


Grand Cross Adventurer's Guild

by Tifa_Homewrecker



Category: Original Work
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure, Backstory, Blow Jobs, Character Death, Consensual Underage Sex, Creampie, Cunnilingus, Dialogue Heavy, Dungeons & Dragons, F/M, Graphic Description, Impregnation, Inner Dialogue, Inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, Lots of plot, No Dungeons & Dragons Knowledge Required, Oral Sex, Original Character(s), Plot, Quests, Rape/Non-con Elements, Romance, Shotacon, Size Difference, Story Driven, Straight Shota, Underage Sex, Vaginal Sex, Violence, adventure guild, dnd, story heavy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:55:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 53,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27749371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tifa_Homewrecker/pseuds/Tifa_Homewrecker
Summary: The Grand Cross Adventurer's Guild attracts adventurers from all across Thracia. Humans, elves, dwarves, fairies, paladins, monks, priests, rogues and more - they all journey to the guild for the chance to group up and go questing together. As the teams complete quests they get paid gold which can be used to buy gear, potions, enchantments etc. from the guild stores. Complete enough quests and your group gets promoted to a higher rank, allowing you to take on harder quests.This is eventually going to be an epic length work, following the story of Solemn Oath, a team of several adventurers with a lot ahead of them. All characters, places and lore are original. This work is inspired by D&D + various other TTRPGs and videogames but no knowledge of those systems is required.
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Male Character
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	1. Desperate Scream

This story contains strong sexual elements but they are far and few between, this is mostly a character development/plot driven story.

There are many dark themes in this story. If you are upset by extreme violence, graphic sex, rape, major character death, underaged sex (young boy/adult female) or horror elements then you should not read this. Obviously, I am strongly against all of these themes in real life. This story is influenced by Dungeons and Dragons and various other rpgs. You do not need to be familiar with those systems to understand the story.

“ _Italics represent inner monologue_.”

**Grand Cross**

**Chapter 1: Desperate Scream**

Guild Master Elriac Revnel let out a pained sigh, the old wizard’s brow furrowing as he read the letter laid out before him. His messenger raven cawed, its impatient cry pulling the wizened elf’s attention away from the letter. “You want a reward don’t you. Well… I guess that’s fair. It’s not your fault the words you carried were as dark as you are.” Elriac tossed the raven a few berries before returning to the letter.

“ _It’s as bad as I feared_. _The situation faced by the other guilds is every bit as dire as what we are seeing here at the Grand Cross Adventurer’s Guild. Monsters becoming more aggressive, adventurers dying in increasing numbers and a shortage of new recruits. But why? Why is this happening!?_ ” Elriac angrily pushed out from his desk, storming over to the massive bay window overlooking the city of Astoria. He starred out over the capital city, looking down on the rooves as they were illuminated by the first rays of sunlight.

The old elf picked up Folnir, his staff that had been broken off of the world tree Yggdrasil. He gripped Folnir tightly in one hand, raising it high above him. As Elriac transferred mana into his staff buds blossomed all along the shaft, revealing brightly glowing flowers of every color. As more mana was transferred into the staff the flowers grew brighter, beginning to vibrate as the intensity increased. Elriac slammed Folnir into the ground. A ripple emanated from where the butt of the staff had struck the ground, distorting the air, stone and light in its path.

“Sorrow, come to me.” His command was barely a whisper, but the ripple that emanated from Folnir reached his old friend. The shadows cast by the crossbars of the bay window morphed and stretched, taking on the form of a woman as Sorrow rose up out of the ground. Elriac turned to face the ancient vampire, her ashen face as beautiful and terrifying as ever. Though she was over a century old, Sorrow hadn’t aged a day. Her raven black hair still glimmered in the early morning sun, her faintly pink lips still had vitality despite her age. It was only her sad sunken eyes that gave away her age, told you how much she had been through.

“What’s the word from Xing?”

“The Jade Emperor is losing control, many of the clans are openly rebelling against him. Oni, yokai and spirits of the dead roam the country in numbers not seen since the last calamity. The demon hunters that usually keep them at bay are overwhelmed. The sages say that the emperor has lost the mandate of heaven, that the hard times have been brought on by the gods wanting rid of him.” 

“Sounds as bad as over here.”

“It is.” Elriac let out a long sign.

“I’ve been corresponding with a few of the other guild masters as well as with the Archbishop of the Church of Lathandra. It’s this bad everywhere and rapidly getting worse.”

“Do you know what’s causing all this trouble?”

“No. It could be Asmodeus scheming something or maybe the elder gods are trying to return to our realm. Or something else entirely, some new villain we don’t know about. I really have no idea. My attempts to discover the cause have thus far failed.”

“You really think it’s something on that scale?”

“Yes.”

“Why? The current situation is grim, but is it really as bad as the calamity we faced?”

“Yes. I believe the world is in peril again.”

Elriac walked back to his desk, pulling out a letter and handing it to Sorrow.

“This was jointly written by Mab and Titania, the two queens of the fairy realm. The fairy queens say that both sides of the fairy realm, winter and summer, are under ceaseless attack by nightmarish creatures the likes of which they have never seen. They are taking heavy casualties and at this rate fear they will be overrun in a few years. Whatever we are facing, it extends into the supernatural realm as well.

But it gets worse. Last week, Aeria contacted me for the first time in decades to tell me that the elder druid had died. Or more accurately, was killed. Trees in the elder grove had weakened, begun to wither. The elder druid went into a trance, seeking to commune with the tree spirits. He was trapped in his meditation for hours, seemingly unable to pull out and return to our realm. His usually serene face was pained, the agony growing stronger as he spent hours struggling. Several times during his struggle he muttered something about a dark god trapped beneath the elder grove, its spirit suppressed by the sacred trees. Aeria thinks, and I agree, that while attempting to commune with the grove, the elder druid fought against that dark god and was killed. Whatever is trapped beneath the elder grove’s roots is starting to break free.”

“And you think that all of this is linked?”

“It’s very unlikely that these are all separate unrelated events.”

“What are you going to do about it? I assume you didn’t call me here just to worry me.”

“I don’t know what we’re fighting. But I do know that the forces of darkness are stirring again. The world needs a new generation of heroes to drive back whatever great malevolence is coming for us.”

“And we’ve gotten too old. You, me, Aeria, Sigrein and Lucia aren’t going to band together one last time to slay the forces of evil.” Elriac sighed as he looked over to Sorrow.

“You know better than anyone that Sigrein and Lucia died over a century ago while Aeria is but a shadow of her former glory. Not that I’m much more than that myself. You’re the only one of us who can still fight and this is too much for you alone.”

Sorrow drew her daggers out of their sheaths. Vicious, the blades that had killed thousands, immediately sucked the light out of the room, their dark surface unlit by the sunlight. The two long daggers appeared as amorphous black blobs, human eyes unable to make out their shape. She gazed into them, fixating on the darkness.

“Being near immortal does have its downsides.”

“Indeed.” There was a long silence.

“Are you going to ask if I succeeded in my quest? I believe it was one of only six rank 8 quests issued by the guild this year. Seems pretty important to know the outcome.”

“I already know that you succeeded - you’re one of the world’s five living rank 10 adventurers. Do you have it with you?”

“Indeed I do.” Sorrow reached into her flowing black cloak, drawing out an efreet noble’s lantern. “So much trouble for a lantern with only one wish left in it. I had to slay a devil prince in the second lair of hell to obtain this. I lurked in the shadows for three weeks, waiting for him to get into position so I could drive Vicious through his infernal heart. Though I could feel him weaken as Vicious sucked out his life energy, he survived the first blow. His power as an infernal prince being such that even Vicious couldn’t snuff him out in one stab.

He roared and counterattacked, swinging his huge razor-sharp claws then slashing at me with his barbed tail. I melted into the shadows and emerged out of the wall beside him, stabbing Vicious up through his throat and into his head. He twitched violently, his enraged eyes fixing on me for just a moment before he died. He had hidden the lamp in a magically sealed bag of holding, but given my skills as a rogue it only took me a few minutes to extract the lamp.” Sorrow’s long black tongue slid out of her mouth, licking the surface of her dagger. “I can still taste his burning blood on Vicious, no water will remove this stain.”

“How did you escape from the second level of hell after murdering a member of their royalty?”

“With great difficulty, I assure you. Even for a ghost like me.”

“Well at least those three weeks kept you out of the sunlight for a while. Wouldn’t want your pitch-black hair bleaching white again.”

“You always do see the bright side of things.” Elriac said nothing. “What are you going to wish for?”

“A wish from a genie’s lamp won’t be strong enough for what I desire. At dawn tomorrow, we’re going to perform a ritual of three beggings. A wish, a prayer and a desperate scream.”

“You’re going to wish. I’m guessing the archbishop is going to pray? Who’s doing the screaming?”

“You are.”

“Me?”

“Yes. I see the deep sadness in the corners of your eyes. I know why you can no longer bear to hear your real name.” Now it was Sorrow’s turn to say nothing. “I’m sorry but we have no other options.”

“May I go now?”

“Yes.” Sorrow’s form dissipated into a pool of shadow, disappearing as quickly as she had arrived.

Elriac looked out over Astoria one last time before returning to his desk. “ _The guild master’s work is never done_.” He shuffled a few papers around, looking over his ledgers. “ _Hmm… Angel’s Fury and Trinity should be returning from the northern lands soon, have to see if they successfully slew Voldrung_.” Elriac exited his office on the fourth floor of the Grand Cross Adventurer’s Guild. As he walked through the guild administrative offices Elriac nodded at Zeph and Dippi, two gnomish accountants not noticing him as they were busy reviewing guild finances. He walked down the stairs to the third floor where the upper rank adventurers stayed. “ _There’s Aerik, Liria and Safi, three of the five members of Angel’s Fury. I don’t see Trinity_.”

“Aerik, were you successful? Is Voldrung dead?” Elriac kept his composure but there was unease evident in his voice. The dwarf paladin looked up at the guild master, his face gaunt and tired. Liria and Safi, the groups cleric and sorcerer, looked every bit as exhausted as the dwarf.

“Yes, but at great cost. Victoria and Georges were slain, the valkyrie who fought alongside us lost many of their own as well.” Elriac lowered his head.

“This is how everything has been going lately. Tell me what happened. All of it.” Aerik let out a long sigh.

“Alright, I’ll start at the beginning, from before we arrived in Midgard. As you know, Sigrún the valkyrie queen had been successfully dealing with Voldrung the frost giant warlord for decades. The “Tyrant King” had never been on good terms with the valkyrie but they had maintained an uneasy peace agreement that prevented massive conflict. But recently, his forces had been threatening Midgard – attacking and kidnapping valkyrie hunting parties. About two weeks ago, Voldrung’s forces captured three valkyrie and brought them back to his fortress. The captured valkyrie were stripped of their weapons and armor then thrown in a cage. The next day Voldrung opened the cage and pulled one of the valkyrie out. She struggled mightily but was overpowered as Voldrung opened his mouth wide and swallowed her whole. The next day he opened the cage again and pulled out a second valkyrie, she didn’t struggle much, just whimpered as Voldrung gulped her down.”

Elriac interrupted “Voldrung is that large? Frost giants are big, and Voldrung was bigger than most… but swallowing a valkyrie whole? He shouldn’t be THAT big.”

“Well… that’s the thing. The third valkyrie managed to escape that night and tell Sigrún what had happened. What she said was disturbing. Voldrung looked different. He had grown certainly, but beyond that his stomach was bulging, his neck and limbs seemed thicker than before and when he opened his mouth, his jaw and throat unhinged like a snake, allowing him to swallow a valkyrie whole.”

“What unholy magic could have changed him like that?”

“Well sir, I think we may have found out, but I have to finish the story for it to make sense.”

“Continue then.”

“After hearing what had happened to her valkyrie, Sigrún was enraged. She immediately ended the truce, declaring war on Voldrung and all those who serve under him. That’s when Sigrún contacted Queen Charlotte, who I believe requested that you send aid to Midgard.

“Yes, that’s when I created a rank 6 raid quest and sent your group as well as Trinity to Midgard.”

“Well we got there and were told by Sigrún that we would be joining a Valkyrie war party led by Kára, one of Sigrún’s daughters. The war party would be heading into the Frostclaw mountains to eliminate Voldrung and his band of frost giants. There were 10 members from the guild, ourselves and Trinity, along with a full warparty of two dozen valkyrie with Kára leading them. More than enough to slay an overgrown band of frost giants.”

“But clearly you encountered more resistance than was expected.”

“That is an understatement. From what the surviving valkyrie had told Sigrún, we knew the exact location of Voldrung’s lair. They had been digging deep down into the ice and had found some ancient fortress buried under the snow. How they knew to dig there, we didn’t know at the time. Attacking the fortress head on would have been suicide, so we waited until nightfall and used grappling hooks to scale the walls. The giants weren’t expecting to be attacked so there were only 2 guards patrolling the walls. We killed both of them without being spotted. From there, we ascertained the location of the main building and made for it. Up to this point, there was surprisingly little resistance. We charged into the main hall 34 strong, ready to slay the giants. But it was a trap. They were waiting for us.

Voldrung sat upon a huge throne at the opposite end of the hall. When he saw us, he smiled a wide grin, his giant maw stretching unnaturally wide. There were these big braziers along the sides of the room providing light and five frost giants between us and Voldrung, nothing else in the room. Kára yelled something in Valkúr (language of the valkyrie) that I couldn’t understand and we charged forward. The frost giants formed a wall in front of Voldrung and met our charge.

The frost giants were 12 to 15 feet tall, huge muscle-bound creatures with light blue skin and freezing cold breath. Frost giants are mighty foes, but you can’t understand how strong they are until you face one in combat. I swung my battle hammer at one of the giants, smashing it into his knee. My swing was powerful, even something big like a troll or goliath would have gotten its leg broken by my swing – but the giant was barely affected. In response, he roared and kicked at me. I blocked the blow with the haft of my hammer and was thrown back 20 feet. Fortunately, several of the valkyrie had great bows and those were doing a lot of damage to the slow-moving frost giants.

A few minutes into the battle Voldrung let out a scream unlike anything I have ever heard. Hard to even describe, the scream seemed to occupy many different pitches and tones all at that same time. 7 frost giants who had been hiding entered into the main hall and charged us from behind. But worse than that… out of a large entryway that led to somewhere else within the main building, a massive spider emerged. This beast’s body was easily 8 feet high and leg tip to leg tip It was 20 feet wide. The spider rushed us, its 8 long limbs allowing it to close the distance between us quickly.

A few of the valkyrie turned around to face the giants that were attacking from behind while others met the spider head on. Their spears barely dented its dark blue chitinous exoskeleton. One of the valkyrie tried to jam her spear into its mouth but the spider knocked her spear away with one of its front legs and lunged forward, biting down on the valkyrie, severing her in half and swallowing the top half. The valkyrie eventually managed to surround the giant spider, swinging heavy great axes into its sides. While the spears had limited effect, the axes smashed through its exoskeleton just fine.

As the axes cleared off its armor Safi managed to hit one of the weakened spots with a bolt of force. The bolt blasted spider guts all over the room as the beast let out a horrible wail. The beast charged Safi as he conjured up the largest fireball I’ve ever seen him cast. The spider would have killed Safi but a valkyrie intercepted the spider, giving her own life as she swung an axe into the spider’s mouth. The spider tore the valkyrie to pieces but as it did Safi’s fireball shot into its open mouth, blasting the foul beast’s head into sticky ichor.”

Elriac turned to Safi. The pale sorcerer with long black hair looked morose despite his apparent heroic deeds.

“The spider was slain, but while we had been fighting the spider Voldrung had gotten up off of his throne and joined the fray. Frost giants stand on two feet but Voldrung crawled on all fours, thick limbs driving him forward while his massive belly dragged on the ground. Voldrung was unarmed, attacking by swiping his powerful arms across the ground and pounding with his fists.

The ensuing battle was so chaotic that I only saw part of what happened. At some point during the battle, Kára attacked Voldrung, driving her spear into his head. That should have killed him, but it had no effect. He swept Kára’s legs out from under her with a powerful swipe then smashed down at her with his fist. Kára rolled but the fist still crushed one of her legs. Voldrung crawled towards her and rose his fists to smash her into a pulp. Just then Garrius (wizard from Trinity) sprinted over to her and erected a force barrier. Voldrung smashed down on it, partially caving in the barrier. He rose his mighty fists into the air and roared, preparing to destroy the barrier and those under it. Just in time, Garrius cast pitfall, causing the ground under Voldrung’s belly to cave in. Though he was too large to fall in completely, Voldrung’s immense weight pulled him down into the pit, giving Garrius enough time to drag Kára away from danger.

With most of the smaller giants now dead I was free to run up behind Voldrung, casting smite as I smashed one of his legs with my battle hammer. The blow hit him with tremendous force but he simply ignored me, chasing after Kára and Garrius as he pulled himself out of the hole. As he chased them Voldrung loudly spoke some bizarre language that I’ve never heard. I speak giant, most dwarves do, whatever language he was madly uttering wasn’t giant. As Voldrung gave chase and continued madly ranting the valkyrie pelted him with arrows, he bled profusely but didn’t slow. With Voldrung distracted I climbed on top of him, cast smite again and brought my hammer down on his back. But he just kept going. I used all my mana reserves to cast smite one last time, slamming my hammer into his back with every bit of strength I had. There was a loud crack that I was sure was his spine breaking but he kept crawling forward regardless.

With the remainder of the party focusing on Voldrung he did eventually die, but the amount of damage he sustained should have killed him ten times over. When it was all said and done, Angel’s Fury had lost two members, Trinity had lost 3 and the valkyrie had lost 14 out of 24. The remaining 15 of us secured a perimeter then piled up the dead and burned their bodies. Afterwards, half of the group, myself included, explored the remainder of the building, looking for clues as to what transformed Voldrung into the monster he had become.

We found a hidden door underneath a rug, opening that door gained us access to the basement. We lit torches and descended down the stairs. In the basement, we found most of the valkyrie that had been kidnapped by the giants. It was… not a pretty sight. The giants had been breeding the valkyrie, using them to rapidly produce more frost giants. A human or elven woman cannot birth a frost giant, but apparently valkyrie can. Most of them were in some state of pregnancy, many having already given birth once or twice. We freed them from their chains, the valkyrie openly weeping as we led them upstairs into the light.

The freed valkyrie told us that a group of four women with horrifying faces and scraggly grey hair had been coming into the basement every few days and taking away the baby frost giants. As you know, monster pregnancies proceed very quickly, the little giants being carried to term in just a few weeks. In the brief timespan that the valkyrie had been there they had already birthed dozens of baby frost giants. If we hadn’t put a stop to their scheme, they would have continued capturing more valkyrie and slowly built up an army of frost giants.”

Elriac was deep in concentration, his face growing more concerned as the story proceeded.

“What do you know about the group of four women?”

“Well… from the description the valkyrie gave us they sounded like witches for sure. The basement that the valkyrie were kept in was pretty dark so it had been hard for them to get a good look. The women would walk around the room, talking to each other in hushed voices while putting their boney hands on bellies to see how the pregnancies were progressing. And… well… we found more evidence suggesting that they were witches.

When we returned to the main hall, the group that had stayed there told us that they found symbols tattooed onto Voldrung’s back and the spider’s carapace. We made a drawing of it for reference.” Aerik pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket, handing it to Elriac. Elriac looked down at the symbol. The symbol depicted a dead raven lying in a pool of blood with dark red flowers growing out of its corpse. The border around the symbol was an octagon formed by eight burning roses. Red flowers, gold stems and black flame.

“None of us recognized that symbol, but when we returned to Midgard Sigrún told us that it was the symbol of the Black Briar Coven. A witch’s coven based in the northern lands. However, she said the border had always been black thorns, not flaming roses. Elriac, is there any chance you recognize those roses? Could give us a clue as to who transformed Voldrung and that ice spider into monstrous beings.” The guild master’s hands shook as he looked down at the picture.

“Those flaming roses are the symbol of Glasya, daughter of Asmodeus and Lord of the Seventh level of hell.” The room went silent. “The Black Briar Coven is now serving Glasya, that would explain everything you saw. Only an ancient and exceedingly powerful witch could have transformed Voldrung like that, I doubt this witch’s coven you spoke of could have done it. Glasya on the other hand, she could have absolutely transformed Voldrung using some horrifying infernal magic. As for those baby giants, Glasya is building an army to attack Midgard. That plan is temporarily thwarted but I doubt she will leave the valkyrie alone for long. I must warn Sigrún that they are in danger.”

Aerik sighed, “Sorry I didn’t bring you better news.”

“Aerik you completed the quest and brought back critical information, you accomplished everything I asked and more. As for the unfortunate deaths, this is how everything has been going recently.” Elriac paused for a moment. “You said that two members of Trinity survived, where are they?”

“Oh right, I forgot that part. When we returned to Midgard Sigrún healed her daughter Kára’s crushed leg. Sigrún apparently has incredibly powerful healing magic, Kára’s left leg was crushed but after Sigrún healed it that leg looked good as new. Later that night Trinity and our own group were staying in a room that the valkyrie had given us, planning to depart the next day. Kára knocked on the door and Garrius left with her. The next morning, Garrius told us that he had made love to Kára and she had proposed to him afterwards. The remaining two members of Trinity are staying in Midgard for a few weeks because Garrius is marrying one of Sigrún’s daughters.” Aerik laughed, “Imagine having her as your mother-in-law.”

Elriac smiled, “Well that’s a story I didn’t think was going to have a happy ending. Rest up Aerik, the guild is short on advanced rank members and we’ll have need of your services soon.”

“I’ll always be here for you Elriac.”

The guild master returned to his office, penning a letter to Sigrún and sending it on his fastest messenger raven. “ _Just a few more orders of business to attend to and then I’ll go to bed early. Need to be fully rested for using my wish tomorrow morning_.”

Elriac woke before dawn the next morning, opening the lockbox that held the noble efreet’s lamp. The ornately crafted lamp was solid gold with a circle of inlaid rubies around the lid. As he held the lamp, Elriac could feel the red hot power of the noble efreet trying to break free, held inside by the powerful magic used to create the lamp. “ _In all my years, I’ve only seen a single genie’s lamp. That first lamp was used by a mage to grant herself immortality. The genie granted her wish – by turning her into a lich.”_

 _Elriac sighed, “And now I have one. Have to be very careful; I can sense the burning rage of the efreet trapped within the lamp. The only way to avoid my wish being twisted into something awful is to free the efreet and offer him something he desires in exchange for the wish_.” Elriac sat for a bit, preparing himself for what was to come.

“ _Dawn is near,_ _It’s almost time_.” He opened a second lockbox, pulling out Igneous, the flaming longsword that had once belonged to his teammate, Sigrein the knight. Igneous was dull from hilt to blade tip, its smooth brass edge unable to cut. As Elriac gripped Igneous the runes etched along the blade’s length took on a dull red hue, resembling the smoldering embers of a once raging fire. Igneous was designed not to cut, but to channel the impossibly hot flames its user could summon by saying the Ignan (language of fire elementals) word for ignite. “ _I have my treasure, now I just have to cast Greater Comprehend Languages so that I can speak to the efreet in Ignan_.” Elriac lifted his staff into the air. Once again, buds blossomed all along the length of Folnir, vibrating and glowing as Elriac channeled more mana into his staff.

“Magno Lignus Comprendendus!” The glow faded from Folnir as brightly illuminated letters written in every language that Elriac had ever heard spoken swirled around him. The letters mingled and danced, forming words first with letters of the same alphabets but soon words composed of letter from many different languages began to form. The letters merged further, collapsing from coherent words into dense highly complicated symbols that Elriac could somehow understand. The symbols of knowledge flooded into Elriac’s open mouth, the wizard now able to speak and understand any language he had ever heard. “Usam novis moros” (Always a strange experience - in Draconic) “ _The first time I ever cast this spell I successfully negotiated with a green dragon in its native language, convincing her to stop attacking the nearby elven village in exchange for the elves staying off of her mountain. Hopefully this negotiation goes as well_.” 

As the first rays of sunlight broke over the horizon, Elriac pulled the lid off the lamp. Dense hot red smoke poured out of the lamp, quickly filling Elriac’s office. As the smoke cleared Elriac looked up into the air, seeing not an efreet but an efreeta - the female genie’s bright red skin glistening in the early morning light. Above the waist she was nude except for a multitude of golden rings, bracelets and earrings. Waist down her body was a trail of red smoke and flame

“Glorious effretti lord! I have freed you from your prison and offer you a great treasure! All I ask is that in exchange you grant me one single wish!”

“Insolent human! You dare to demand a wish of me!” Her voice resonated in his head louder than it existed outside of him.

“Great lord! I offer you the flaming blade Igneous! A sword that once belonged to the greatest knight our kingdom has ever known!” He threw Igneous into the air in front of the efreeta. Without moving a hand, she drew the blade to her, suspending it in the air as she looked it over.

“I wish for you to bring forth heroes to save our world!”

“In exchange for this treasure, I will grant your wish.” The efreeta spread her arms, as she did, the red light emanating from her changed to gold. As the golden light grew painfully bright Elriac shielded his eyes. There was a bright flash of golden light and then the efreeta was gone. Elriac slumped down, breathing heavily. “ _I hope that worked_.”

The archbishop Ciolus stood before the statue of the goddess Lathandra. As the sun broke over the horizon the old man lowered himself onto his knees before dropping lower still, placing his head on the cold ground. “ _Please. Lathandra, please hear my prayers. I know you see the evil that has emerged. I ask you not to banish it because I know that you cannot. Instead, I ask you to bring forth heroes to save our world from the coming darkness. I have dedicated my entire life to serving you. If you grant me nothing more for the rest of my life, I will be content so long as you answer this one prayer_. _I beg of you, please grant me this request_.”

Sorrow stood under a mighty oak tree, her long black hair blowing in the breeze as she stared at the ground where her house used to stand. She had been staring at the barren plot for hours, trying to summon the courage to face what was behind her. Finally, hands shaking, voice weak, Sorrow turned towards the graves of her husband Sigrein and their two children Lucy and Edward. The tree that Aeria had given them as a wedding gift now stood watch over their final resting place.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry that I haven’t visited for such a long time. There is no joy left in my life and I cannot bear to think of you.” Tears streamed down her face, Sorrow’s vision blurring as she looked down at her husband’s grave. “ _Here lies Sigrein Whitestone. Savior of the kingdom. Beloved husband of Saria Whitestone. Loving father to Lucy and Edward_.” Sorrow collapsed onto her knees, long repressed memories surging forth.

Saria remembered the abusive family she ran away from in what seemed like a different lifetime. She remembered the 5 years she spent alone and terrified on the streets of Astoria, stealing to keep herself fed. She remembered the first day she entered the Grand Cross Adventurer’s Guild, where she met Sigrein and Aeria, two people who would become family to her, one of them her eventual husband. She remembered the early years. Back when they were young, stupid, pure and entirely too courageous for their own good.

She remembered when they finally settled on their team name, Morning Star. The name of the pale blue star associated with Lathandra, the goddess of morning, dawn light, renewal and cleansing. The team name was suggested by Elriac, the fifth and final member to join their group. Morning Star completed quests at a rapid pace, quickly rising through the ranks.

Slaying a wyvern, rescuing a princess or retrieving an artifact, there was nothing they couldn’t do. Saria the human rogue, Elriac the elven wizard, Sigrein the human knight, Aeria the elven ranger and Lucia the Aasimar Priest established themselves as the one of the strongest groups the guild had ever seen. At that point, they weren’t the highest ranked team in the guild, but when there was a terrifying foe to be slain, the guild usually gave the quest to Morning Star, trusting that they would get the job done without any casualties. A few years later, Morning Star became only the second rank 10 team in the history of the guild. Along the way, Saria gave birth to two children and finally found true happiness.

Then the darkness came. The necromancer Marius the Black had been gaining power for decades. The guild knew he was a major threat but they could never manage to kill him. Powerful as he was, Marius mostly kept to himself, keeping a small army of undead around him and rarely attacking civilization. But in secret, he had been collecting powerful necromantic artifacts, pieces of Velkun, the god of the dead. When he had enough pieces, Marius was able to perform a ritual and become the avatar of Velkun, a physical manifestation of the god of the dead. Out of the soil Marius rose armies of the dead larger than any forces the humans could muster. As his armies ravaged the lands of men their numbers swelled while the humans, elves and dwarves grew weaker.

The mortal armies tried to strike at Marius but he was never with his horde. No one had seen him for years; he was somehow commanding his armies from a distance. The armies sent scouts looking for him while every guild in the world sent teams of adventurers searching, but they couldn’t find even a trace of Marius.

Finally, a Xi sage by the name of Lau Shing figured out how to track Marius by following lines of dark energy that flowed from him to his armies on the battlefield. Lau Shing crafted a device that allowed Morning Star to track Marius to the basement of a partially sunken fortress deep in the southern jungles.

With the help of dozens of other teams, many from different guilds, Morning Star launched a surprise attack on the fortress. There were only a few hundred undead in the fortress but they were all liches, vampires, phantoms, zombie lords, wraiths and powerful resurrected creatures. Countless adventurers gave their lives fighting through the fortress, allowing Morning Star to head towards Marius.

When Morning Star finally reached Marius, he was no longer recognizable as human. His organs, skin and flesh had long since fallen away, replaced by a nearly impenetrable organic material. His eyes were gone as well, the empty sockets now glowing bright blue, illuminating the darkness before him. The final battle was the stuff of legends. In the end, Morning Star prevailed. But at great cost. Lucia was slain, Aeria horribly wounded and Sigrein cursed by Marius. The necromancer uttered the curse with his dying breath, pouring all of his hatred and dark twisted energy into the casting.

Sigrein’s curse slowly spread over his entire body, turning his skin black and damaging his internal organs. The curse that Marius had cast with his dying breath had been identified as the curse of creeping death, but it had been cast with such power and hatred that no cleric, priest or sage was able to remove it. Worst of all, the curse spread through Sigrein’s bloodline. Sigrein’s elderly mother who was still alive at the time, quickly died of the curse. Saria was forced to watch as her husband fought valiantly but ultimately succumbed to the curse as well.

With her children rapidly weakening and sure to follow their father’s fate, Saria grew desperate. No cleric, priest or sage could undo the curse, but perhaps a necromancer could. She sought out Velashka, an ancient vampire necromancer of great power. Saria would never trust a necromancer, but vampires, especially old ones, were honorable in their own way. Velashka agreed to lift the curse but only if Saria let Velashka turn her. Having no choice, Saria agreed, letting the ancient vampire sink her fangs into her.

True to her word, Velashka attempted to remove the curse. But even she could not remove the curse that Marius had brought into this world with his dying words. Saria watched helplessly as her two children slowly edged closer to the grave. In the final weeks, her children called out to her, calling Saria’s name over and over and over again as they begged for help. When they finally passed, Saria felt an enormous cold emptiness inside of her. She was alone again.

Several days later Elriac visited her to pay his respects, addressing Saria by her name. She glared at him; her eyes so pained that Elriac knew to never call her by that name again. When he asked her what she wanted to be called, she told him Sorrow.

Sorrow knelt before the graves of her husband and children. “This can’t have been for nothing. All of this pain, all of this suffering, all that I have endured, all of this vast emptiness inside me. It can’t all have been for nothing. If the world is in danger again, then someone must save it. Mothers must be able to watch as their young ones run through the grass joyous and free. Couples must be allowed to grow old together in peace, looking into each other’s eyes as their hair greys. My sacrifice and pain cannot be undone by some new evil, they have to mean something. Sigrein’s death. The death of my children. They have to mean something.”

Pain welled up inside of Sorrow, her past loses taking on a physical presence inside of her. She let it all out. “It has to mean something!!!! Everything we fought and died for must have meaning!!!! If the world is in danger again, then bring forth new heroes to protect it!!!! We didn’t slay Marius only to let some new evil destroy the world!!! Whoever is listening, bring forth new heroes to protect the innocent and slay this new evil!!! I am not asking, I am demanding!!!!!!” Sorrow’s desperate scream echoed through the woods and hills.

(End of chapter notes: Chapter 0 was all backstory and world building. The next two chapters are backstory for two of the story’s main characters. It might seem like a lot, but the main story would be very confusing without it. Hope you enjoy!)


	2. Kiria the Monk

**Chapter 1: Kiria the Monk**

-Tap, tap-. Kiria’s eyes flew open as she punched her fist into the air, instinctively reacting to the feeling of a boney finger tapping on her skull. Her closest friend Jin caught her forearm, yanking her out of bed and frisbee tossing her halfway across the room.

“Get up sleepy, it’s the big day.” Kiria glared at Jin as she rose to her feet, dusting off her knees and elbows.

“You snuck into my bedroom, rudely woke me and then tossed me across the room. Each of those crimes is individually enough to earn you a knee to the midsection.”

“But you aren’t going to do that because today is the final test and without me you would oversleep.”

“I wasn’t sleeping… I was preparing.”

“For a snoring contest?”

“Fuck off.” Jin smiled a devilish grin.

Kiria walked over to her dresser - pulling out panties, leggings and her monk’s robes. The robes were jet black, the large shadow fist emblem on the back only visible under bright light.

“Avert your eyes or you’re going to see my big fat shadow fist ass.” Kiria turned away from Jin, tossing aside her panties and linen top. She had olive skin and long dark brown hair that came up into a loose ponytail. Her limbs and core were muscular but in a feminine athletic sort of way, still sleek and smooth despite her wiry strength. 

“Damn girl, 8 years of hard training and your ass is still that big?”

“I said to look away.” Kiria smirked, shaking her ass side to side, “And all the training only made it bigger.”

“Between that and your huge breasts I’m surprised you can fight at all.”

“Hush you. And if I recall correctly… I’ve beaten you in just over half of our sparring matches.”

“Yeah… cuz you fight dirty.”

“I fight to win.” Kiria finished dressing then smoothed out her hair and set it in a loose ponytail. “ _Jin is acting all cocky but I can tell how nervous he is. Can’t blame him, the outcome of this test will have a big impact on our future_.” Kiria joining Jin by the doorway, turning to look at her bedroom one last time. “This is it. Pass or fail, I’ll never see this room again.” They looked around, thinking of past times when they were young teens living under the protective shadow of the monastery.

The monastery and all of the rooms within were constructed in a Xi (pronounced Shee) style. The Order of the Shadow Fist originated in Xing (pronounced Shing), a land far to the east. Jin, along with many of the other students and instructors, was from Xing, brought over to the western nation of Thracia as a child. Shinran, the head monk, came to Thracia as an adult, sent over to govern the monastery and train its pupils. Kiria was Thracian, she had grown up an orphan on the streets of Astoria, the capital city of Thracia. The Order of the Shadow Fist had taken her in when she was in bad shape. They had protected her, given her purpose - they were the first and only family she ever had.

Most of the orphans the monastery took in left during their teenage years, they hated the constant harsh training and stern discipline. Kiria loved the training, especially the sparring. She had grown to embrace the pain, knowing it would impart lasting results. And while no one “liked” discipline, Kiria felt that it gave order and stability to her previously chaotic life.

Kiria had been taken in as a 12-year-old, and was now 20, one year older than Jin. In those 8 years she had become fluent in the Xi language and mostly fluent in their culture. Understanding their mannerisms and oddities well enough that she could fit in with them, not standing out except for her eyes and physical features. Like most Thracians, the Xi were very pale, but their skin had a slightly different texture to it. Their hair was jet black with fine silky strands and their eyes were a bit thinner than those of most Thracians.

Kiria snorted,

“Hey Jin, remember when I stole that big cask of Xi plum wine?”

“How could I forget the two of us getting drunk and then one of us not being able to hold their alcohol? You threw up all over me and the floor of my room then passed out, leaving me to clean up your mess.” Kiria leaned into Jin,

“Aren’t friends great.”

“Absolutely wonderful. And the best part was, the monks pretended not to notice the vomit stains on my robes. They were losing so many pupils that punishing me for a minor offence just wasn’t very high on their priority list.” Kiria pushed her head into Jin’s neck,

“That definitely wasn’t the best part.”

“It wasn’t?”

“Just a few days later, I sucked your cock for the first time and let you cum in my mouth. I Even swallowed.”

“That was a separate event.”

“Kind of. I felt really bad about the whole vomit thing. And… I really liked you.”

“Bad taste on your part.”

“Ehh, you didn’t taste that bad. A bit salty but I liked it.” Kiria caught her balance as Jin shoved her.

“God shouldn’t have created white women, clearly a mistake on his part.”

“If white women didn’t exist then who would have taken your virginity?” Kiria teased.

“My hand, probably.” Kiria laughed “My hand is a huge slut, but unlike you, she doesn’t make fun of me, and there is no risk of getting her pregnant.” Kiria shook her head as she smiled.

They exited Kiria’s bedroom, walking side by side down the halls of the monastery. Kiria turned to Jin, her smile replaced by a look of intense vulnerability.

“Are we really prepared?” Jin nodded,

“We are. We’ve trained as hard as we can. We’ve run up and down the mountain until our legs wobbled and our lungs burned. We’ve sparred until our fists and shins bled and hardest of all, we’ve mastered the way of the shadow.” Kiria sighed,

“That last part is what I’m worried about. We’ll pass the physical fitness and combat portions of the exam. We have to, if we aren’t good enough then no one else is going to pass either. But this monk order is specifically called The Order of the Shadow Fist, the stealth portion of the test is going to be incredibly hard.”

“I’m sure that’s what everyone is thinking. We’re gonna have to hide from and track the instructors, or something like that. It won’t be easy but there’s no point getting anxious about it, it’s not like this test is life or death.”

“I think the test is going to involve the shadow shrine somehow. They brought us there when we first joined the monastery and it gave me nightmares for weeks. I’m certain the shrine will be involved somehow…”

“Maybe, we’ll see when we get there.”

“Do you think it’s true that only one in four pass the final test? The shadow fist monastery took us orphans off of the streets, gave us a home and spent 8 years training us, it seems a waste if they’re only going to pass so few students.”

“I guess they want quality over quantity, we just have to make sure we pass.”

They left the shadow fist monastery, heading into the woods where the final exam was going to take place.

“Jin, I know you say it’s not life and death… but I feel like it is. I just have this incredibly strong sense of dread.”

“That sense of dread is just your nerves. We’ll pass, and if we don’t… life will continue.”

“I wish I was as confident as you are…”

Beams of early morning light pierced through the forest canopy, their warm glow slightly easing Kiria’s nerves. The morning air was chilly, but the weak sunlight and lack of wind made it tolerable.

“Kiria hold up one second, I have to pee.” Kiria rolled her eyes as she waited for Jin to finish his business. Sticks crunched beneath Kiria’s feet as she paced around, a sinking feeling in her stomach.

“ _Have a bad feeling about this… really, really bad_ …” Jin returned and they continued forward. The sun rose higher into the sky but as they drew closer to the shadow shrine the woods seemed colder and darker despite the sun rising higher into the sky. 

They reached the shadow shrine an hour later. The shrine was a huge jet black rock jutting high into the air. At 30 feet high and 15 feet across it was unlike any other stone Kiria had ever seen. The texture and color of the rock were completely different from those around it, like it didn’t belong here - like it came from somewhere else. There were faces carved into it, each of them with their physical eyes closed but a third eye wide open on their foreheads. The ability to sense more than what you could see was the key to both disappearing and finding hidden people. The other 22 members of Kiria and Jin’s class were there, all of them looking anxious, wanting to know what the test consisted of.

Kiria studied the faces carved into the shrine. “ _They’re so life-like, they look like real people turned to stone not carved faces. Its been a long time since I was here last, but I have a very clear memory of what the shrine looked like and I don’t recognize these faces at all. I think they’ve changed since last time_. _And… most of the faces look like they’re roughly our age_.” Kiria’s heart raced as she looked over the other students, “ _Nobody else is as freaked out as I am. Am I just crazy? Maybe the pressure of the moment is getting to me._ ”

Shinran approached, his face somehow harder and less forgiving than those carved into the shrine. The stern elderly monk was undiminished by age, cords of rippling muscle straining against his robes as he stood before the assembled crowd. As Shinran scanned the mass of his pupils his eyes seemed able to peer through you, judging a man in an instant. It wasn’t a gaze you wanted lingering on you. Back in Xing, Shinran had been a legendary assassin in service of the shadow fist. There were rumors about the people he had killed, but no one knew for sure. He was now the head of the Thracian branch of the Order of the Shadow Fist monastery.

Shinran raised a fist and on that command the other instructors walked forward, fanning out around the shadow shrine. When Shinran finally spoke, his voice was unspectacular. He didn’t need to project authority by altering the tone of his voice or changing his word selection, his mere presence already did that.

“Form a circle around the shrine.” He continued speaking as the students followed his orders, getting between the large rock and the instructors.

“Return to the shrine at daybreak tomorrow. If you make it, you’ll be official members of the order.”

“ _If we make it… what does that mean?_ ”

“Bow your heads, turn off your senses, meditate until you are one with the shadow. Fail to do so and I will throw you out of this order right here and now.”

Kiria assumed her mediating stance and began to let her mind go. The goal of meditation was to let the mind dissolve so that your soul could roam free. Free to interact with the wind, the body, the ground, the sky, the light and the shadow. Conscious thought ended as Kiria drifted into a deep meditation. She could feel the wind, not simply the breeze against her skin but the air moving around her. She followed the wind as it kissed the blades of grass and slammed into the trunks of mighty trees. She could feel the sunlight coming down from the sky - warming the rocks, trees and dirt before being absorbed into the earth. But above all else, she could feel the shadows pooling in the crevices untouched by light. Shadows weren’t simply two dimensional, they had form, mass and texture all their own – understanding them was the key to truly vanishing from sight.

But something was off. There was an odd shadow slithering across the ground like a snake, unaffected by the light. Kiria could feel it piercing through the lit ground like a knife through flesh. It passed through a student, then sped up, rapidly heading towards another. Kiria opened her eyes, breaking out of her meditation. “ _I can’t see that slithering shadow with my eyes but I can feel its presence. I can feel the light being pushed aside by it. And tracing it to the source… they’re coming from Shinran_.” The old monk’s face was deep in concentration, his eyes open but not seeing as he made the invisible shadows dance and kill.

Kiria rose and as she did two of the instructors flew at her, one attacking diagonally from the right while the other attacked from the left. Kiria parried a blow from the diagonally attacking instructor with her right arm then kicked out to her left at the other instructor to knock her off balance - her foot catching the instructor solidly in the stomach. “ _Many of the other students are already dead. This is what he meant_.”

Kiria lunged forward, pushing off of the doubled over instructor to help her accelerate faster. She ducked under a spinning elbow strike thrown by the instructor whose blow she had just parried, dodging just in time. What Kiria lacked in brute strength she made up for with speed and athleticism, she was a blur as she sprinted away from the shrine towards the woods. The instructor that had struck at her broke off from the group to pursue her. Kiria turned her head, briefly scanning for Jin, “ _I don’t see him anywhere, living or dead. He probably made it, but I have to protect myself right now_.”

She continued forward into the forest, hurdling over a fallen log as she raced through the woods. She quickly looked back, the instructor was still pursuing her, a determined look on his face. “ _Gotta lose him. But I have to slow my pace a bit. If I continue at full speed I’ll tire out quickly. Even if I put some early distance between us, he would eventually catch me. I’ll slow to around 80%, I can keep that speed up for hours on end if I have to_.”

The chase continued, a high stakes game of cat and mouse. Kiria kept on running but every time she looked back the instructor was still there. “ _He slowed his pace as well, doesn’t want to burn himself out_.” As Kiria approached a stream she sucked in air, exhaling powerfully as she exerted herself to leap high into the air, landing 15 feet away on the other side of the stream. Out of the corner of her eye, Kiria saw a shuriken flying towards her. She dodged out of the way at the last second, receiving a scratch on her neck and nothing more.   
  
Kiria backed up a few feet and balled her right fist, gesturing for the instructor to face her with her left hand. “ _Time to end this. I could keep running but I don’t want him pursuing me all day and into the night. I would eventually exhaust, leaving me vulnerable to attack. Defeating him here and now is my best bet_.”

Instead of leaping across the stream the instructor monk skipped across it, clearing it in only three steps and barely seeming to get wet. Kiria timed the monk’s exit from the water, kicking at him powerfully, her right leg traveling in a wide sweeping arc. The monk rolled to the left low and fast, slipping under her kick and standing back up in one smooth motion. Kiria moved backwards, her trained legs sliding instead of stepping so that she could never be caught flat footed.

The instructor came forward, attacking her with a series of rapid jabs. Kiria dodged most of them, parrying the few that she couldn’t dodge. He feinted but Kiria saw through it, she didn’t react to the feint, waiting for the real punch that came just a second after. She parried the punch and then stepped forward, raising her left leg to kick. The instructor saw that Kiria didn’t have her feet fully set, an obvious tell for a feint. He ignored the fake kick, waiting for the real blow that would surely be coming.

But it wasn’t a feint, it was a trap. Kiria’s balance and abdominal strength were such that she could still kick with tremendous power even from a very awkward angle. Part of being a monk was understanding the flows of Ki energy, the natural energy of the body that existed in all creatures. Understanding your opponent’s energy flows allowed you to target their weak points, while understanding your own energy flows allowed you to give your strikes extra power, more speed or other effects. 

“Stunning Strike!” The off-balance yet still powerful kick hit the instructor on the side of the head, hitting a weak point and badly dazing him, allowing Kiria to transition directly into another technique.

“Flurry of Blows!” Her fists became a blur, punching into the monk’s gut 16 times in just two seconds – a pained grunt sounded as the instructor stumbled backwards. Using the Ki energy that flowed through your body was draining, but this was no time to rest. Kiria seized on the opportunity, stepping forward and putting all her weight behind a powerful spinning kick, she knew he wouldn’t be able to dodge this one like he had the last. 

“Whirlwind Kick!” Kiria rapidly twirled in a tight circle, her ki energy helping her to build speed as her body rotated three times - building speed as she went. On the final rotation her left leg shot out in a wide arc, flying towards the monk with incredible speed.

Her shin thudded hard into his side, loudly breaking multiple ribs as it impacted. But instead of moving with the kick to reduce its damage the monk braced for impact, catching her kick with his right arm, trapping it against his body. Through the intense pain he began twisting Kiria’s trapped leg, using his hip as a lever to bend her leg horizontally in the wrong direction. She hoped in the direction that her leg was being bent in to reduce the pressure. Seeing what she was doing the monk began violently jerking her leg, trying to throw her off balance. Kiria kept her balance, having to hop on one leg to avoid being thrown to the ground. She punched at him but her off balance punches didn’t have the weight of her body behind them. “ _I can’t keep this up much longer_.” Using all of her strength and balance, Kiria kicked her free leg up into the instructor’s chin, hitting him so hard that she nearly knocked him unconscious. “ _Not a full somersault kick, but still powerful enough_.” It had the desired effect, forcing the instructor to release Kiria’s leg and drop her onto the ground as he stumbled backwards.

“Huuu!” The instructor let out a deep grunt and loudly clapped his hands on his chin, the strange technique allowing to recover in an instant.

“ _What the fuck technique is that?!_ ” The instructor dove at Kiria but she was ready for him, whipping her hips up into the air and catching his neck between her powerful thighs. Before he could react, Kiria crossed her legs and squeezed his neck as tight as she could. He punched at her sides, desperately trying to break free. Kiria did not let him go. Her legs and abdomen were strong, she squeezed like she was trying to pop his head off. As she continued squeezing, the instructor rolled over but she mirrored his roll, refusing to let him slip out. As he punched and thrashed Kiria responded by squeezing with every bit of strength that she had. Finally, he tapped on the side of her leg and stopped struggling, in training that indicated submission. “ _I just saw them kill unsuspecting students. I’m not letting this one go free so he can attack me moments later_.” She squeezed until he went limp, the instructor’s unconscious body lying still on the ground.

Kiria loosened her legs and stood up, looking down on the instructor, her breathing labored from the exertion. “ _I could kill him if I wanted to_. _He tried to kill me. But that was part of the test, Shinran ordered them to_.” She tore his robes and legging apart with her hands, tossing the scraps into the stream. She left him naked on the ground, indicating that he had been defeated. “ _Shouldn’t rest, have to get away from here_.” Shinran’s words echoed in her head. “ _I could run far away, the instructors would never catch me, but then I couldn’t return to the shrine at day break. I would survive, but not become a monk of the Shadow Fist Order_.” She considered, “ _I’ll move away for now then return late in the night. Be near the stone as morning draws close_.”

Kiria turned and ran off without a sound, her left leg was a bit sore but nothing that would slow her down. “ _I used three abilities in a short period of time, it’ll take my body a few hours to fully restore the flow of Ki energy within me but I should be good by tomorrow morning_.”

-Next morning-

Kiria had seen no combat since her fight by the stream with the instructor. In fact, she had seen no sign of the instructors all night. As morning drew closer, Kiria returned to the stream, her defeated opponent long gone, a slight depression in the soft ground the only sign of him. “ _Is this really it? All I have to do is return to the shrine and I pass? No… this isn’t it, Shinran will be by the shrine_.”

Kiria’s anger flared. “ _Shinran killed half the students right off the bat. He didn’t need to do that, such heartless cruelty wasn’t necessary, he could have determined who was worthy and who wasn’t without killing them.”_ She breathed deep.

 _“C’mon Kiria, calm down… calm down. This rage isn’t going to help you, it’ll cloud your mind and get you killed.”_ Kiria breathed deep, feeling a sense of calm spread over her. _“That shadow is going to have spread out by now, I’ll have to avoid it to get back to the shrine_.”

She rubbed at her left leg. “ _Still hurts but I haven’t lost any agility._ _When I get close to the shrine, I’m going to have to run and focus on that invisible slithering shadow at the same time. Simultaneously fighting and meditating, seemingly impossible… but maybe not_.” She looked at the woods behind her. “ _I could always run away. Take everything I’ve learned and go become a bodyguard for some rich lord or something_.” Kiria smirked.

“Who am I kidding. _I’m far too stubborn to turn away, I can’t let Shinran defeat me. And I certainly can’t let Jin pass while I fail, I would never live that down_.”

She waited a while longer, until daybreak was only 10 minutes away. “ _Now or never_.” Kiria closed her eyes and focused, letting her soul roam free. It didn’t take long for Kiria to sense the shadows that emanated from Shinran, their razor-sharp tendrils flowing over the ground. Kiria opened her eyes, it was difficult to see the physical ground while still focusing on those invisible shadows, but she was focused like a hawk and wasn’t going to accept failure. “ _Seeing what is before me while simultaneously sensing that which I cannot see. This is going to be the hardest thing I’ve ever done_.”

Kiria leapt across the stream, not wanting her leggings to get wet. She dashed forward, moving like a cat through the dense undergrowth. She projected her “other” sense as far out as she could, feeling the shadow up ahead. “ _It’s not reacting to me just yet, but I’m sure that will change_.” As she drew closer the shadow kept to itself, still not sensing her presence. As Kiria raced past the first snaking tendril its tip swerved as if it was a creature turning its head to see her. The shadows roiled, sharp flowing lines now coming after her. As fast as she was going before, Kiria managed to move faster, truly moving like the wind as her determination propelled her forward.

The shrine was close now, maybe only three minutes away. “ _Going to be a long few minutes_.” The shadows swarmed after Kiria, forcing her to constantly dodge, jump, change direction, pivot and at one point leap up to grab a branch and fling herself over a tangle of writhing shadows. The tendrils grew denser as she came within sight of the shrine. For every step forward she had to take five or six sideways and sometimes even backwards. Every foot of forward progress towards the shrine was physically and mentally exhausting as Kiria’s senses were stretched to the breaking point.

Kiria could see the other students heading towards the shrine, she wanted to look for Jin but that would certainly get her killed. “ _He definitely made it_.” Moments later one of the students made a pained noise before collapsing, slain by the writhing shadows.

With the shrine now only 100 feet away Kiria burst forward, the shadows tearing after her, desperate to pierce her flesh. Kiria had transcended beyond them, she could sense where the shadows were going before they went there, running towards danger that she knew would be safe in a moment and avoiding the obvious traps that the shadows were setting. It was like a dance, luring the shadows towards her before dodging away and continuing forward.

Kiria reached the shrine, slapping one of the faces right on its third eye. And just like that, the shadows lost all interest in her. “ _I passed_.” She turned to look at Shinran, his eyes still wide open, tears streaming down his pained face as he continued to manipulate the shadows. “ _I had no idea a technique like this existed, who knew that the order contained such powerful secrets. I thought Ki energy only allowed you to manipulate your own body but I think he is projecting his Ki out into the shadows in order to control them. To be able to do that for hours on end… Shinran is terrifyingly powerful_.”

While keeping one hand planted on the shrine, Kiria walked around the perimeter to where several other successful students had congregated.

“Now that we’ve passed, are we going to be taught how to do that?”

“What even WAS that? Who knew shadows could be manipulated like that?”

Jin wasn’t there. The other four passing students continued talking but Kiria didn’t hear their words. Jin wasn’t there. She frantically scanned the surroundings as the first rays of the sun peaked out over the horizon. She looked for the dead bodies from earlier but they had been moved during the night. “ _Jin still isn’t here_.” The shadows dissipated as the full light of the sun spilled over them. Shinran closed his eyes, a torturously pained noise emanating from his mouth. He covered his eyes with his hands, slowly rocking side to side.

“ _Jin isn’t here, is he dead!? Where is he!?_ ” She left the rock, running a circle around it, scanning the horizon for Jin. “ _He… he must’ve run away. Not wanted to return to the shrine. I considered that myself, that must be what he did_.” She tried to calm her racing thoughts but the notion that her only friend might be dead made that impossible.

A hand clapped down on her shoulder. Kiria turned to face Shinran, his eyes still closed tight.

“I’m sorry child, Jin is dead.” Without even thinking she threw a punch at his head, putting everything she had into it. Without opening his eyes Shinran rose a forearm and blocked it. It was like punching a stone, her hand being hurt more than the surface it struck. Shinran grabbed her arms and pinned them to her side.

“This is not the last death you will ever encounter. Mourn now but tomorrow you must rise as a member of the Order of the Shadow Fist.”

She glared at him, her pupils shaking in rage. No words came out, she wanted to strangle the life out of him. His serene face, his eyes that didn’t bother to look upon her, it only made the pain worse.

“You killed him! He trusted you, believed in you and you killed him!” She dropped to the ground as Shinran let her go, sobbing into her hands. Sometime later a robe was placed over her shoulders and leggings laid down beside her. She knew that these robes meant she was a full member now but she didn’t care.

“ _I can’t stand this place, I have to get away_.” Kiria grabbed her robes and stormed off. One of the instructors yelled after her.

“Kiria, you are a member of the order now. To stay a member, you must accept missions when we give them to you and come to our aid when we need it. But in exchange we’ll protect you. Keep an eye on you from a distance, come to your aid if you call out for help.”

Kiria ran, her legs were tired but it didn’t slow her. She had no destination other than away from here.

The sun rose high into the sky, then sank down below the horizon. As night fell Shinran and the other instructors returned to the monastery, its halls a bit emptier with the oldest group of students having left. A young Xi girl, maybe 10 years old, came out of her room.

“Did they all pass?” Her face was excited and nervous at the same time.

“Yes Ayumi, they did. And if you train hard enough some day you will too.”

“Yay!!” Little Ayumi punched her hands up into the air, leaping up and down.

Shinran entered his office and removed a key from under his desk. He used the key to open a heavy iron door, closing it behind him as he walked down the lightless steps. A torch was lit in the small basement of the monastery, the dim light revealing the silhouette of a man shackled to the stone foundation.

“Are you going to release me yet? Or kill me? Either one would be an improvement over this.”

“Jin Zhao… you killed five instructors.”

“No… you killed five instructors. You sent them at me, sent them to kill me. I defended myself.”

“Then defend yourself again!” Shinran’s voice was a savage whisper.

“Flash Step!” Shinran stepped forward, launching himself so powerfully that his body became a blur, he punched Jin with such force that the blow could be heard on the first floor of the monastery. But Jin still stood, his chained arms having deflected the worst of the blows force so that it slid off of him and hit the stone foundation behind him.

“Flurry of blows!” Shinran’s version of the technique was far more advanced than what Kiria or Jin could currently perform. Punches, kicks, elbows, knees, headbutts and body slams, every possible attack was thrown at Jin unrelentingly and with such speed that the individual attacks could barely be separated from each other. Jin dodged, blocked and redirected most of them, only getting hit clean by a few. Blood dripped from his mouth but he still stood.

“Foolish child. Stop resisting, this is an execution. Dragon Punch!!!” Shinran pulled his fist back as he screamed, his whole body contorting to put every conceivable bit of strength into the punch. Beyond the immense physical force, Jin could sense a supernatural presence around Shinran’s fist, it wasn’t shadow, it was something hot and proud. “ _This must be the dragon part of dragon punch. I can’t dodge or block this blow_.” Jin raised his shackles at the last possible second, blocking the blow not with his forearms but with the steel shackles around his wrists that had kept him chained to the wall. There was a noise like a bomb blast as the shackles exploded, bits of steel shrapnel clanging against the stone wall. Jin rubbed at his wrists, now freed.

“I see you are a bit smarter than you look.”

“If you killed Kiria then you had better kill me too. If you don’t, I’ll grow stronger and hunt you down.”

“A dog does not hunt a dragon. But your friend Kiria still lives. She has graduated and become a full member.” Jin looked up, a bit of the rage leaving his eyes.

“She thinks you died. She is angry at the order, furious even, but she will accept our embrace in due time, they all do. She has no other family and orphans hate being alone. You are now free of your shackles, but you are not truly free.”

“You’re going to keep me here? Why? I know you don’t care about those instructors I killed.”

“Oh you aren’t staying here. We’re returning to Xing.”

“What!?”

“You’re coming with me to the central monastery of our order. There, you will be forged into a weapon that can be wielded to slay the enemies of the order. Be proud, you have been recognized as exceptional and chosen for a greater path. One day, you might even come to lead your own monastery.” Jin said nothing, the shock of what he had just been told rattling him to the core. The iron door closed shut and was locked up tight as Shinran returned to his office.

A week had passed and Kiria had found her way back to the capital city of Astoria. With no clear idea of where to go or what to do, her legs had carried her to the only other place she knew, the streets of Astoria. Kiria had been born in this city, at least as far as she knew. But her ancestors weren’t from here. Kiria’s ancestors came from the desert nation of Alsia directly to the south of Thracia. Or at least what had been the independent nation of Alsia until Thracia conquered and absorbed it 140 years ago. The Alsians were now citizens of Thracia, speaking its language and adopting its customs. Being Alsian, Kiria stood out from the mostly native Thracians of the capital. While their facial features were nearly identical, Alsians had dark brown hair and olive colored skin while the Thracians were very pale with blonde, red, orange, brown and occasionally black hair. As a child, Kiria’s skin color had occasionally caused to get teased by the other orphans. “ _Doubt any of them would mock me to my face now_.”

The capital was as crowded and noisy as ever, masses of people moving about in every possible direction. “ _When I arrived at the monastery as a 12-year-old it took me weeks to get used to the silence. But after living there for 8 years, the cacophony of the city makes it hard to think_.” Memories flooded back to her as she traversed the bustling streets. Kiria had spent her entire childhood on these streets, even after 8 years away from them she still knew her way around. But it was different now. So very different.

Kiria was 5’10. While her younger self had to look up at everyone, she was now at eye level with most of the men and taller than almost all of the women. Instead of constantly getting knocked aside by larger adults most people now avoided contact with her. A man bumped into her, interrupting her stream of thought.

“Hey, watch where you’re going!” He rudely shoved her, Kiria simply spun on her toes, spinning around without ever coming close to losing her balance. She could have effortlessly swept the man’s legs and toppled him over, but that would cause a scene. She looked back at the offending individual; he was clearly a wealthy man. Greying hair, a nice suit, a monocle. She had encountered hundreds of men like him as an orphan, well to do gentleman who regarded her as gutter trash. “ _They can’t hurt me anymore. I don’t need to beg for their coin and if one of their bodyguards tries to assault me - they’ll regret it_.”

The leggings that the Order of the Shadow Fist had given her contained a small pouch of 5 silver pieces, far more money than Kiria had ever previously seen. “ _This is enough silver to rent a room at a fancy inn for three weeks straight, meals included. For a former orphan, I’m doing pretty well for myself. Well… I guess I’m not a former orphan anymore, I’ve lost my home again and I’m wandering the streets of Astoria looking for a warm place to sleep. Good thing I’ve had a lot of practice at this._

Kiria wandered through the streets of Astoria for the remainder of the day, foggy memories coming to life as she revisited sights and from her past. Kiria broke from the main street, heading down Grand Cross St. The street was named after the Grand Cross Adventurer’s Guild, an ancient and prestigious adventures guild. Adventures looking to join the guild came to Astoria from all over Thracia, and sometimes even farther away. The Grand Cross Adventures Guild was structured like any other guild. Those looking to join would have to form a team of 4-6 people and complete a single rank 1 quest. Upon completion, those individuals could register as a rank 1 party and take on any rank 1 quests they wanted.

Upon completion of any quests, the team would receive a payment which was provided up front by whoever posted the quest – with the guild taking a 20% cut. As a team grew stronger, they would be promoted to higher ranks by the guild officers. There were 10 ranks in total, as the ranks got higher the quests would become increasingly difficult and the rewards proportionally larger. The whole affair was overseen by a guild master and the guild officers serving under him. “ _I can’t think of anything else to do, I could always join a group and do a few rank 1 quests. I’m strong enough that killing some wolves, goblins or giant rats wouldn’t be much of a challenge_.”

Kiria wandered around for a bit longer, eventually returning to the main street as the sun began to set. “ _I should find an inn to stay at for the night. I think the Dancing Unicorn inn is down this way_.” As she turned the corner a massive mansion came into view, the perfectly manicured lawn in front of it protected by a high wall and stern looking guards.

“ _Ah yes… the Lionel family. Their control of mining operations and arms manufacturing all over Thracia has made them extraordinarily wealthy. Sell a few weapons and you’re a successful blacksmith. Sell countless weapons and armaments to the royal army at high margin because you control the flow of raw materials and use slave labor… and you become upper nobility. What was the daughters name again…? I once knocked her down when I was running away from a produce stall that I had stolen from and her guards damn near killed me while she looked on. Imagine controlling that many men as a young teen. Men who are ready to kill an orphan just because she knocked you over. What was her name? Ahh yes… Priscilla Von Lionel… that bitch_.”


	3. Priscilla the Knight

Chapter 2: Priscilla the Knight

-9 years earlier-

Priscilla lay awake in bed, staring up at the ceiling as an indeterminate amount of time passed. “Maybe I can talk them out of making me do this, tell them I don’t want to run my father’s business.” She counted the wood panels on the ceiling. “47.” More time passed. “Not that he cares what I want… He just wants me to take Michael’s place.” The sun slowly rose, its cheery rays failing to lift Priscilla’s spirits. She sighed loudly. “Let’s get this over with.” Priscilla rolled out of bed, shivering as she dressed in the chill morning air. She looked in the mirror, straightening her long pale blonde hair and flicking a bit of fuzz off her blue silk dress. 

-Knock, knock-   
“Miss Priscilla, are you ready yet? It’s 7:58, your lesson begins in 2 minutes.”   
“Yes Beatrice, I’m almost ready.” “I hate all of this.” 

Priscilla exited her bedroom, striding down the stairs two at a time, purposefully walking in a non-ladylike manner to annoy her mother. Lady Lionel showed no emotion, not reacting to her daughter’s tiny betrayal of her station.   
“You’re three minutes late for your lesson darling.”  
“Well then it’ll just have to run three minutes over.” Her mother glared at her.  
Priscilla pushed open the door to the study where one of her father’s many administrative assistants sat waiting for her. Sigmund briefly glanced at the clock before turning to Priscilla. 

“Miss Priscilla are you ready for your lesson to begin?”  
“A few minutes late and I have three different people bothering me about it.”  
“Yes Sigmund, let’s begin.”  
“Good. As you know, your father wants you to take over the family business when you are older, which means…” As Sigmund droned on, Priscilla’s mind wandered. 

“Father doesn’t want me to take over Lionel Arms. He wanted my older brother Michael to take his business over… but Michael died in that strange plague that swept through Astoria last year. I wanted father’s love, to not always be second to Michael. I’m no longer second to Michael… yet he still doesn’t love me like he loved his eldest son. I’m being suffocated by father’s loveless ambitions for me. He stressed me out so much that I can’t even properly grieve for Michael…”

“Priscilla are you paying attention?” Sigmund crossed his arms and lowered his gaze, making his annoyance abundantly clear.  
“Yes Sigmund.”  
“What was I talking about?”  
“I have to take over Lionel Arms which means that I need to learn accounting and business administration. My father, Lord Aldric Lionel, is a very busy man so his various assistants have to teach me.”   
“Precisely.”  
“Why can’t he just have Edwin learn all this when he is old enough? He wanted to pass the business onto a male heir anyways.”  
“Priscilla your younger brother is 8 years old. I’m certain he will be taught all of this when he is older.”  
“Lucky him. I’ll tell him to stay 8, 14 is apparently a bad age in this family.”  
“A word of advice…”  
“Just one? That’s a relief.”  
“You are going to learn all of this whether you like it or not, your father will see to that. If you focus and get it done with, then this will be over faster, allowing you to get back to whatever else you do.” Sigmund paused. “Do you remember when, as a young child you were sometimes forced to eat food that you hated? You eventually learned to just swallow the food and get it over with, prolonging it only made the experience worse.”  
“Adapting to suffering so that I can get back to whatever else I do? Wonderful. I’m so lucky to be a part of this family…”  
“There are far worse fates than being a Lionel. In fact, pretty much all fates are worse than being a Lionel. Now back to our lesson.”

After 4 hours of accounting being hammered into her brain, followed by a one-hour break and then 4 more hours of business administration lessons, Priscilla’s brain was fried.   
“This is miserable…” Priscilla returned to her room, walking up the stairs with considerably less bravado than she had displayed earlier in the day to annoy her mother. She collapsed onto her bed, releasing a loud sigh. “I wish Michael hadn’t died; my life was so much happier before that. He used to play hide and seek with me when I was little, and whenever it snowed, we would have snowball fights. He once woke me late at night for the season’s first snowfall, we made a snowman and a little snowchild beside him. Whenever I was down, he could always cheer me up, doing his imitations of father or sometimes just holding me and letting me cry. I was inconsolable for a whole day when he passed and depressed for several weeks after. I miss him so much…” Tears welled up in her eyes, she held them back before they came pouring out.

-Knock, knock-   
“Miss Priscilla.”   
“What!?!?”   
“I’m… I’m sorry miss but your father has returned from his business trip and wishes for you to join him for dinner.”   
Priscilla took a deep breath, getting herself under control.   
“I’ll be there in a few minutes…” As she wiped away the tears Priscilla could hear Beatrice quickly walking away, not wanting to be yelled at again. 

Priscilla changed into a silver dress and tied a blue ribbon into her hair. She wore a necklace with the Lionel family emblem on it, a silver lion on a blue crest. She entered the dining room, smiling at her mother. “We’ll probably fight about something before the night is over, best to at least start on pleasant terms.” Her mother sat at the chair next to one of the table ends. Priscilla sat down halfway down the length of the long table.

“Sit closer to us dear, your father has been gone for two weeks visiting the iron mines up north, he’ll want to see you.”  
“I’m fine over here.”   
The servants began bringing in all manner of food. “This is enough food for 10 people. If the common folk knew how we ate they would storm Lionel Manor. Although I suppose the same could be said for the royal family and all the other nobles as well.”  
Lord Aldric Lionel strode in, setting his heavy coat down on the back of his chair. 

“Emily! Looking beautiful as ever! Sigmund tells me you ran the house better than I do! Maybe I should give YOU a promotion instead of Fenzi the accountant.”   
“God, he treats his own wife like a business associate. Doesn’t know how to interact with people besides this annoying banter.”   
“And darling Priscilla! I hear you’re making great progress in your studies! You’ll be running Lionel Arms in no time at all!”

He sat at the head of the table, cutting off a large chunk of ham and setting it in front of himself.   
“Dear your beard has grown so long and its even thicker than before. With your blonde coloring you’re starting to look like a lion yourself.” Her father laughed,   
“So I am! They’ll be calling me the Lion of Lionel Arms soon!” Priscilla rolled her eyes so hard they practically went up into her head. Edwin entered the room, escorted by Beatrice. 

“So sorry Lord Aldric. The little lord was outside playing with Chester, it took me a moment to find him.”  
“Oh, it’s no problem at all. Little boys need to play. Who is Chester again?”  
“Chester is a kitty!” Edwin shouted in delight.  
“Oh that’s right! Your mother and I gave you Chester for your 8th birthday. Hah! For a second I thought Chester might have been some servant boy.”  
“Wouldn’t want Edwin playing with a dirty servant boy…” Edwin turned, seeing his older sister.   
“Prissy!!” He leapt into her arms, hugging her tight. Priscilla held Edwin up as she hugged him back, pressing her face against his.   
“Never stop being so pure and beautiful. The only member of this family who isn’t a monster.” “Sit with me Ed.”  
“Okay!” 

Edwin jumped up into the chair beside her. Priscilla piled his plate high with buttery bread, chicken, brown sugar roasted carrots and all the other foods that Ed liked. Priscilla and Edwin ignored their parent’s conversation, carrying on a separate conversation of their own.   
“Were you playing cat and mouse with Chester?”  
“No, we have a new game. It’s called mouse hunters.”  
“So instead of you being the mouse you’re both cats and you look for mice?”  
“Yeah! And we caught one!”  
“Did you now?”  
“Well… not really. We caught an imaginary mouse.”  
“I’m sure you’ll get a real one neck time.”

Edwin gently poked at Priscilla with his knife.   
“Prissy, Prissy… wana duel?”  
“I do.” She picked up her knife and grinned. They crossed swords, clanging their knives together repeatedly, occasionally fake stabbing at the other person who would dodge dramatically. Finally, Edwin yelled “Yahh!!” And stabbed Priscilla in the heart, she crossed her eyes, let her tongue droop out and dropped her head down to the table like she was dead. Edwin smiled wide, a pure moment of happiness. Priscilla hugged him, feeling her spirits lifted for the first time all day. “I’m sure mother doesn’t approve, but who cares?”

“So how were the mines dear?” Her mother changed the topic, pulling attention away from her daughter’s antics.   
“The mines are running well but there are a few issues to be dealt with.” He paused, hesitating for a second. “Some of the workers are discontent. They burned down a few warehouses, causing us to incur significant loses. It also badly delayed shipments, so I had to offer deep discounts in order to prevent any customers from seeking out an alternative source for their arms. The workers don’t see the big picture, they want higher wages but if those shipments get delayed then our profits will decrease and they’ll get LESS money.”  
“Oh my.” Emily Lionel put a gloved hand over her mouth, demonstrating the appropriate level of shock.   
“Yes, quite the nuisance to be sure.”  
“What are you going to do about it?”  
“I’ve appointed a man to deal with it.”  
“What is he going to do?”  
“He’s just going to deal with it.” Lord Aldric’s tone left very little to the imagination.   
“They’re going to crush a slave rebellion in spectacularly brutal fashion.” Priscilla knew what was going on, her mother probably did too but didn’t care.

Priscilla focused on Edwin, trying her hardest to block out her parent’s conversation. When dinner finally ended Edwin followed Priscilla up to her room, sitting beside her on the bed.   
“Prissy will you tell me a story before I go to bed?”  
“Sure.” She ruffled his hair. “What do you want to hear about?”  
“Umm… tell me a story about a dog.”

“Alright, I’ve got just the one. There once was a dog named Lucky who was owned by a kind old shopkeeper. The old man loved Lucky tremendously and always treated him well, taking him for walks and feeding him twice a day. Whenever it rained, the old man would start a fire and Lucky would sit by the fireplace while the old man read. But Lucky wasn’t content living in the old merchant’s shop. Life was generally pleasant, but he felt trapped. Lucky would watch other animals running around outside, not bound by anything. He grew jealous of them, wishing his life was more like theirs. Instead of sitting by his master’s side he could be running through the woods wild and free. No one to make him come inside or tell him when to eat. As time passed, Lucky’s feeling of being trapped grew stronger. One day, when the old man took Lucky outside to go on a walk, Lucky ran away. He could hear the old man calling for him but Lucky needed to be free.”  
“Did he come back?”  
“Yes. But not for a long time. Lucky roamed the plains and forests for years, living free and unbound. He had adventures, made new friends and almost died more than a few times. But eventually… he started to grow old. Lucky had enjoyed his freedom immensely, but it was time to return to the kind old man. And so Lucky returned home. But home wasn’t home anymore. The old man had passed away, the shop closed down, Lucky’s dog bed thrown out. Lucky didn’t know what to do. He looked at the boarded-up shop, looked back at the woods and looked back to the shop. There was no home anywhere.”  
“What did Lucky do?”   
“He spent the rest of his days wandering. Not wild and free but scared and alone. Homeless.”  
“Oh…”   
“That story was too heavy for Ed. I let my own feelings and morose mood come through.”  
She hugged Ed, pulling him in tight.   
“But we’ll never be alone, because we have each other.”  
“And Chester!”  
“And Chester.” “But Chester won’t protect you like I will.”

After Edwin went to bed, Priscilla locked her bedroom door and closed the curtains. “Just a few hours until Cedrik shows up, I should get some sleep.” Priscilla lay awake in bed, unable to fall asleep. “Tonight is finally the night. Cedrik is going to teach me how to fight. I’ll no longer be a helpless noblewoman; I’ll be transformed into a gallant knight. Well… after years of practice I’ll become a gallant knight.” Eventually, sleep did come.   
Just before 11:00pm there was a soft knock on the door. Priscilla didn’t wake up. The knock sounded again, slightly louder. 

“Priscilla are you in there?” She rose quickly,   
“Yes, I’m here, gimme a second.” She dressed quickly, putting on boots and a wool overcoat. “Finally, I’m going to learn how to fight.” She opened the door, stepping out into the hallway. “Looks like Cedrik already made for the armory.” Priscilla tiptoed through the manor; the rest of the house sound asleep at this hour. She exited out through the back door, breathing into her hands for warmth as the chill October air met her. “Early October and its already this cold… going to be a brutal winter.”

Priscilla’s long pale-blonde hair gleamed in the moonlight as she made for the armory, walking across the huge snow covered back yard. As she drew near the armory the door silently swinging open.  
“M’Lady.” Cedrik knelt down before her. Priscilla closed the heavy iron door behind her. “Windowless thick stone walls and heavy iron doors. This is the perfect place to train in secret.”  
“Cedrik get off the floor. You’re teaching me how to fight, not trying to court me.” The old master of arms grinned. Cedrik was 54 years old but still spry, his limbs strong from a lifetime of training soldiers. Cedrik had retired from training soldiers in the royal army and was now employed by the Lionel family, using his connections to demonstrate Lionel Arms equipment to the royal army. He would train royal army soldiers in the use of Lionel Arms equipment and make sure that the Lionel family got contract to provide armaments to the royal army. 

“Blunt and to the point as usual. I like it. Well then, I’ll be blunt as well. Priscilla, you lack the brute strength to use a heavy weapon, you’ll have to use something a bit lighter. Not necessarily less deadly, just more skill required to kill.”  
“Well I wasn’t planning to use a greatsword. What do you recommend?”  
“Hmm…” Cedrik took a rapier off the rack, “Fast… light… deadly, seems like a good fit for you.” He walked over to a different rack, picking up a long sword. “This might be a little heavy for you now, but by the time you’re grown you could use it no problem. Slower than a rapier but more damaging. You can also block incoming blows with it, something you can’t do with a rapier.” He pulled a spear off the rack. “This is also a good weapon. Keep your opponents at range and stab through chainmail. Good against mounted opponents or larger foes, but problematic if someone manages to slip inside the range of the spear.”   
“What about the others?”  
“There are many types of weapons you could potentially use, which ones are you interested in?”  
“How do soldiers pick their weapon in the army?”  
“Their weapon is assigned to them unless they already have proficiency with a certain type of weapon.”   
Priscilla thought for a few minutes. “I want something that will kill my opponents when I hit them, even if they are wearing light armor. But I also want to be able to defend myself at close range. Even if it is a heavy for me right now, the longsword seems ideal.”  
“Alright, we’ll start with that.”

Cedrik pulled a dull longsword off the rack and tossed it to Priscilla, the blade spinning vertically end over end. For a moment time seemed to slow, Priscilla drew in a sharp breath and without thinking her hand shot out, grasping the hilt of the longsword.   
“You’re a natural.”  
“Draw your blade sir.” She pointed her sword at Cedrik. He drew another dull long sword from the rack, pointing it at her. They locked eyes; cold stares fixated on the other.   
“So how do I use this thing? Swing the sharp part at you?” Cedrik laughed,   
“I suppose I should give you your first lesson before we duel to the death. Alright, first we’re going to work on fundamentals. That means physical conditioning and basic technique. So put the sword down. Before you learn sword fighting, we need to make your body stronger.” 

Cedrik spent the next hour teaching Priscilla a huge variety of exercises that taxed and exhausted every muscle in her body. By the end of the hour Priscilla was breathing hard, her legs shaking, but there was a fierce determination in her eyes.   
“Impressive endurance for a rich girl, I didn’t except you to last this long.”  
“I could go for another hour.”  
“No you couldn’t, not yet at least.”   
“Try me.”  
“It doesn’t matter. From now on you’ll be doing most of your conditioning by yourself. I want you doing 1 hour of strength training and one hour of speed and endurance training 6 days a week. You’ll be meeting with me at night to practice swordplay for 3 hours, also 6 days a week. There will be times when I am not at the manor, during those times you should either do more strength and conditioning work or spend time practicing with a sword alone. Also… I’m going to give you a lighter sword. If you train with a full weight longsword it will end up hurting your form as you’ll be forced to change posture, stance and swing style to deal with the weight of the blade. We’ll start light and slowly move you up to a full length and weight longsword.”

“We only need to meet in secret while my father has command of me. Once I am older, we can practice during the day.”  
“Maybe. I don’t think Lord Lionel will like me teaching his daughter how to fight.”  
“It doesn’t matter how he feels about it.”  
“Your father can fire me on a moment’s notice, of course it matters.”  
“You’re speaking to the future Lord of the Lionel household. If my father fires you, I’ll simply hire you back and pay your lost wages plus interest once I am in charge.”   
“Hmm… you do make a good point. But how do I know that you’re loyal?”  
“I’m generally not, since very few people in my life deserve loyalty. But if you put your entire heart and soul into teaching me how to fight, even if it means getting fired, I’ll be loyal to you. Train me every day. Make me a real knight. Do that and you’ll be rewarded.”

“Good enough for now. Well, moving onto the next lesson. Pick up your longsword and hold it like this.” He showed her how to grip the longsword, keeping your dominant hand on top pressed against the hilt with your off hand below it. “This is the standard grip. It allows for good power and maneuverability. By sliding your off hand down and gripping the pommel you’ll be able to swing harder but you’ll lose some freedom of movement in your swing motion.”   
“But I can switch between grips during a fight, right?”  
“Yes, you can. But knowing when to do so will take time. You can also use a longsword in one hand but you’ll lose power and it will be harder to block with.”  
“But then I would have a shield to block with.”  
“Yes, but with a shield you won’t be able to use a two-handed grip unless you drop the shield or set it on your back which can’t be done quickly.” He pulled a shield off a rack, tossing it to Priscilla. 

“Equip the shield on your off hand, sliding it through the strap and grasping the grip. There are also different types of shields. That is a knight shield, bit heavy but has good blocking power. A kite shield will be lighter but not as good for blocking. A heater shield will be even lighter than a kite shield but worse for blocking. We also have bucklers, very light shields used to block arrows or small weapons. In time, you’ll learn which type of shield you prefer.”  
“What about that huge one?” Priscilla pointed to a massive shield leaning against the wall, easily taller than she was.  
“That’s a tower shield and its weighs more than you do. Those are formation shields used by front line troops, one soldier will carry a tower shield with both hands using it to protect the rest of the formation. Unless you’re a literal giant you could never use one in regular combat.”   
“Don’t I also need armor?”  
“Once you’re a bit older and stronger you’ll be able to wear a helmet and chainmail or scale mail, that’ll protect you from the worst of it, but you’ll still want to avoid massive blows.”  
“What about plate mail?”  
“Plate mail is incredibly heavy. Its mostly used for mounted troops where the horse carriers the weight, it can be used on foot but you’ll tire quickly and have limited mobility.”   
“Okay, that makes sense. So for now, I’m going to practice with dull blades and no armor?”  
“Yes. Once you’ve mastered the basics sword fighting and reached a high level of physical fitness, we’ll begin wearing armor and working on more advanced techniques. Once you’ve mastered those techniques and reached exceptional physical fitness, I’ll teach you the moves that made me master of arms for the royal army.”   
“I look forward to it.”  
They spent the next two hours practicing basic technique. Priscilla was a bit clueless at first but she learned quickly, eager to begin her journey towards knighthood.

As the weeks passed by, Priscilla’s conditioning improved and her sword form went from awful to only pretty bad. As the years passed by, Priscilla slowly but surely changed from a noblewoman into a knight. 

-Present day (9 years later)-

Priscilla strode down the main street of Astoria, a column of 3 guards on either side of her. Though it was only early September, the air was already starting to turn chilly. The season’s first snowfall had left a thin deposit of pristine white snow on the ground, just enough to get everything wet. Priscilla wore black thigh high boots, white leggings, white gloves and a blue coat with the silver Lionel family crest emblazoned on the back of it. “It’s been nine years since I started training. I’m a completely different person now, that bratty young noble is long gone. Confident and bold while I had previously been afraid of my father.” 

“Just one more stop then we’ll be returning home.” The six guards walked beside Priscilla, making sure no townsfolk approached her as they made their way to the blacksmith. “Lot of people stopping to stare at me, not just men, women too.” Priscilla was certainly a sight to behold. The girlish figure of her childhood was long gone, replaced by a strong but decidedly womanly figure. She now stood a full 5 feet 11 inches, just a hair shy of six feet. If you stared at her boots and worked for way up, you would see long shapely legs gently transitioning into wide feminine hips and a very large butt. Continuing further up you would see a slender yet strong midsection leading up to a pair of full, heavy breasts, 38F in size. Finally, if you dared to meet her gaze, you would see pale white almost porcelain colored skin, light pink lips, ghostly pale blue eyes and pale blonde hair. Pulling your gaze away from her haunting beauty could prove difficult, but the proud aloof aura she put out did make it a bit easier.

“And here we are, last stop before home.” As Priscilla entered the blacksmith, four of her guards stayed by the entrance while two entered with her. Tharik the dwarven blacksmith looked up the second she entered.   
“Lady Priscilla, so glad to see you.” He smiled warmly, coming around from the counter to shake her gloved hand. “I just finished your scale mail armor last night and did the final inspection this morning. Its perfection.”  
“Given how much I paid for all this custom work and how long it took, I should certainly hope so. Did the sword and shield come out as well as the armor?”   
“Yes, they all came out beautifully. As we discussed, I made your scale mail armor from elven steel. As strong as human steel but a fraction of the weight. Of course, The gauntlets, boots, sword and shield are all dwarven steel. Same weight as human steel but MUCH stronger. The final bill for all the materials and craftsmanship comes to 40 gold pieces.”  
“I’ll be paying after I inspect it myself.”  
“Oh of course my lady, I assumed nothing less.” 

Tharik ran back into the forge, returning moments later with all of the equipment. Priscilla looked it over, marveling at the quality. The elven steel scale mail looked like regular steel except the usual grey color was a pale teal color instead. The dwarven steel that her shield, sword, boots and gauntlets were made from was darker than regular steel, roughly the color of graphite.   
“Customizing that armor to your figure took a bit of work. Not many knights have.” Priscilla interrupted him.  
“Have such large breasts and wide hips? No, I imagine they don’t, considering they’re almost all males.” Tharik’s face went red. Priscilla finished inspecting the equipment, nodding her head in satisfaction. She swung the longsword through the air, marveling at the perfect balance.   
“Tharik… you do exceptional work. I’ll have more work for you in the future. If I can ever source enough mithril, orichalcum or dragon scales for a suit of armor you’ll be the first to know.”  
“The pleasure would be all mine.”  
“I’m sure.” Priscilla reached into a pouch, producing 40 gold pieces.  
“This is the most money I’ve ever been paid. Good to have a rich client.”  
“Well, not quite as rich anymore. I’ve had a bit of a falling out with my father so I’m on my own now. For any future work, I’ll have to earn the money myself.  
“Sorry to hear that, your father is a good man.”  
“No, he most certainly isn’t, and its better this way.” 

Tharik was silent. Priscilla handed her new gear to her guards, “Carry this for me if you don’t mind.” Before leaving she turned back towards the smith. “Tharik… are you a married man?”  
“Married? No my lady, there aren’t a lot of dwarven women in your human cities.”  
“True… but there are a lot of human women. You’ve always treated me well; I would be happy to arrange a marriage for you if you want. There are plenty of human women who would be delighted to marry a man with your income and status.”  
“I… well I don’t know what to say.”  
“Say yes, you’ll be happier with a wife.” She walked over to Tharik and leaned in close. “What’s your type? Big breasts and wide hips? Or do you prefer the tall and slender look? I could find you someone short so she doesn’t tower over you.” Tharik turned red again.   
“Well… we dwarves do like our women buxom.”  
“Got it. Huge breasts.” Priscilla gave Tharik a thumbs up as she turned to leave the shop, heading directly back to her new house.

Priscilla’s house wasn’t nearly as large as Lionel manor, but the three-story building was still far larger and more luxurious than almost any other house in the city. Over the past nine years, Priscilla had become increasingly obstinate about not wanting to take over her father’s business. That, combined with the discovery that she had been training to be a knight led to her father deciding that Priscilla’s younger brother Edwin would inherit and run the business instead of her. Which meant that Lionel manner would also eventually become his. Priscilla was happy for the change, she never wanted to inherit her father’s business anyways. And she was happy for Edwin. Moving into her own house was like starting over, a new life guided by her own free will.

“Of course, it also means I’m cut off from my father’s immense wealth. The gold I used to buy that gear was most of what I had. If I want to purchase anything else, I’m gonna have to earn the money myself. Will be hard… but I think it’s better this way.” Priscilla walked up to the third-floor master bedroom, stripping off her clothes and trying on her new armor. She flexed her arms and stretched her legs. The scale mail fit her perfectly, it was comfortable, flexible and highly protective. She looked into the large mirror, sticking her butt out. “And it makes my ass look even bigger than it is.” She slapped her butt hard, the impact of her gauntlet on the elven steel scales causing a loud jangling noise. 

Priscilla removed the armor and entered the master bathroom, pulling a lever to fill the large tub with hot water and then lowering herself down into it. She laid her head back on the smooth stone edge of the tub, relaxing as the heat seeped deep into her bones.   
“And the best part is… no can bang on my door and annoy me…” Just then she heard a loud knock coming from the ground floor. “Just my luck…” Priscilla rose, drying her hair and wrapping a towel around herself. “It’s my house, I can answer the door in a towel if I want to.” She exited the bathroom and hurried down the circular staircase to the bottom floor. She opened the door, smiling as she saw her younger brother Edwin. 

“Ed!” She hugged him, pulling him tight into her. Her brother, now taller than she was, resisted being pulled into his sister’s toweled embrace. “Afraid my towel might fall down?” She pulled at her towel, teasing Edwin as he entered her home.   
“Nice place you’ve got here.”  
“Thanks, though not quite as nice or large as yours.”  
“Lionel Manor was supposed to be yours.”  
“But I turned it down and passed it to my little brother instead, what a nice sister I am. Do you want to stay for lunch? I’ll change into something more appropriate if you are.”  
“I would love to, but I’m afraid I have important business. Have to sign some paperwork at the royal palace to get an import license. Just stopped by to say hi and see your new house.”  
“An import license?”  
“Yeah, I’m going to be importing a large quantity of silk from Xing.”  
“Silk? Since when does Lionel Arms use silk in anything that we make?”  
“Turns out that putting silk over leather armor or chainmail greatly increases resistance to arrows. The arrows can’t penetrate the silk, they instead push it into the flesh, allowing the arrow to be removed far more easily and slightly reducing the damage as well.”  
“Who knew. Well, have fun at the castle. If you’re really lucky, maybe you can bed Charlotte Bronte.” Ed’s face went red.   
“I think she is a bit too old for me. And I doubt that her royal majesty wants to marry the heir of a glorified merchant family.”  
“Ehh, 32 isn’t that old, and she is pretty hot.”  
“You’re the worst.”  
“I know. Now hurry along before my towel loosens and falls down.” Edwin turned, making Priscilla laugh as he made a silly exaggerated running motion.

“Now, where was I?” Priscilla looked over at the clock, seeing that it was now 4:00pm. “Oh yes, I was taking a bath because Cedrik is coming over at 6:00 for dinner. Hmm… what should I make?” She pulled a hunk of beef out of the meat freezer along with a whole bunch of vegetables. She cut them up and put the meat and vegetables into a large pot which was hung over the fireplace to cook. “That should be done roughly when he gets here.”  
She returned to the master bedroom, donning her new armor and combing out her hair. She applied makeup, eye shadow and put on an elegant silver necklace. “Not to sound like a bitch or anything… but damn I look good.” Priscilla returned to the ground floor, checking on the beef stew as she waited for Cedrik to arrive.   
Shortly after 6:00 there was a knock on the door. Priscilla opened it, smiling wide at her former instructor. 

“Cedrik come in.” Cedrik was now 63 years old with more grey than brown in his hair. He smiled warmly at his former student, reaching out to take her hand. She ignored it and hugged him instead. “And how have these last few months treated you?”  
“Oh, you know… pretty good. After getting fired by your father earlier this year I briefly fell on difficult times. That little bit of money you gave me helped a lot, but I needed my own source of income. I went back to the royal army and got a job inspecting the weapons that come in, making sure they’re well made, durable, easy to use etc. Of course, holding this job is only possible because your father is no longer capable of influencing the royal army to fire me.”  
“Trust me, he still could. I think the initial rage of realizing that you were training his daughter behind his back has passed. With me out of the picture and Edwin now officially running Lionel Arms, father just doesn’t care about me being a fighter instead of a business administrator anymore.”  
“And your little brother?”  
“Edwin will always see me as his loving older sister. He is fine with the path I have chosen.”  
“Good, good.” Priscilla pulled the pot off of the fireplace, stirring the stew with a large wooden spoon.   
“This seems finished.” She poured the stew into large bowls, serving it with red wine and crusty bread. 

“So, Priscilla, if I may ask. What are you planning to do with your life now that you’re no longer under your father’s thumb?”  
“I plan on joining the Grand Cross Adventurer’s Guild.” Cedrik nearly choked on his wine.  
“You intend to risk life and limb… for what? A chance to slay goblins? Chase wolves off of some bumpkin farmer’s land?”  
“What did you think I was going to do with all that training? Use my longsword to sew dresses?”  
“I assumed that becoming a knight was a way of rebelling against your father and asserting control over your life. I didn’t think you intended to actually go rushing into combat.”  
“Well you were wrong. I intend to join the day after tomorrow. The next time you see me, I’ll have the Grand Cross emblem hanging around my neck.” Cedrik shook his head. 

“Foolishness. But maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. You’ve never seen death and suffering; you don’t know what real combat is like. Before I became the master of arms for the royal army, I was an officer in the royal army and before that, I was a soldier in the royal army. Combat is far less romantic than you think it is, it’s all exertion, exhaustion, chaotic battles and watching friends die around you. You’re going to regret choosing this life for yourself.”  
“Do you regret choosing the path of the sword?”  
“I didn’t have a choice. It was joining the army, or apprenticing myself in some kind of trade – and I don’t the patience to tan leather or brew potions.”  
“You wanted to see the world, fight the enemies of Thracia.”  
“I was a young man without a lot of sense. I don’t think I even put that much thought into it.”  
“Well I HAVE put a lot of thought into this and joining the adventurer’s guild is what I want to do with my life. You can’t convince me otherwise, so might as well not try.” Cedrik sighed long and hard.

“Alright, well then I wish you the best of luck. Just promise me one thing. Sometimes, when a person starts walking down a path, they continue following that path for a long time, forgetting why they started or where they’re going. Whatever your primary reason for joining is, write it down on a piece of paper so that you can look back at it later. If being an adventurer is no longer fulfilling that goal, always remember that you can stop at any time.”   
“Alright, I’ll do that, thanks for the advice.” Cedrik poured himself another glass of wine and finished his soup.   
“So besides signing up to slay giant sewer rats what else have you been up to?”  
“Well… I have to arrange a marriage for a dwarf.”  
“You have to do what now?”  
“Tharik the blacksmith. He’s always treated me well, repairing my armor and doing custom fittings for me on the cheap. Plus, he just made me the most amazing suit of armor I’ve ever seen.” She pointed to what she was currently wearing.  
“I saw that, an impressive suit of armor to be sure. Who are you marrying him to?”  
“Not sure yet. I know a few women who would be good candidates. I’ll ask around and pay off someone’s father if I have to.”  
“All that for a blacksmith?”  
“No… all that for loyalty, the only thing I value.”  
“Don’t go saying that too loud, the guild might try to pay you with loyalty instead of gold.”  
“Well… I do like gold too, just not as much.” Priscilla smiled at him. It was that same mischievous grin that he had seen so many times before. “Have you been practicing your sword fighting lately?”  
“No, I haven’t, but after a lifetime of practicing I doubt my skills have deteriorated much.”  
“Good. Care for a duel?”  
“God you’re exhausting. But you know it isn’t in my nature to turn down a duel.”  
“Excellent. But I warn you, my skills have improved. I’ve been practicing my techniques every day for the past few months.” 

Priscilla rose from the table, opening the door to the basement. She strode down the stairs, lighting a few torches to illuminated the place.  
“I see the entire basement floor is dedicated to training; can’t say I’m surprised.” Priscilla picked up a blunted longsword.   
“Choose your weapon, I have many suits of leather armor around, one of them should fit you.” Cedrik chose a simple wooden longsword and a kite shield. He walked around the room, taking a few practice swings to adjust to the sword and make sure the armor fit him well. Priscilla was wearing all of the armor that had been made for her except her helmet.   
“We’ll have to start slow since I haven’t sparred for a few months.” Priscilla picked up her own wooden longsword, turning to face her old master.  
“Fine, but I’m not going easy on you for long.” They clashed blades. Priscilla was faster than Cedrik, but he still had a strength advantage over her. “Cedrik, you don’t seem rusty at all.”  
“Well we’re still going slow.” Cedrik pressed the attack, using his experience and brute strength to drive Priscilla backwards towards the wall.

Priscilla used her shield to deflect his blade to her left, giving herself a tiny bit of space. She stepped forward, carrying her momentum into a hard right to left arcing slash. Cedrik saw it coming and rose his blade to parry it. As soon as he parried, Priscilla leapt back and dropped down low. “Whirlwind Slash!” She rapidly rotated, completing one full rotation and starting a second before using her bodies twisting motion to slash her blade left to right at a low angle aiming for his shins. Cedrik surprised her by having the reaction time to hop into the air, her blade catching his boots instead of his shins and deflecting off. As he came down Cedrik jabbed at her, forcing Priscilla to roll away from him. 

“I see what you lack in experience you make up for with speed. That downward jab I thrust at you was difficult to dodge yet you made it look easy. And you altered whirlwind slash to attack low instead of at the midsection. Impressive.”  
“And what you lack in speed, you make up for with strength and experience, I’m impressed that you saw my follow up attack coming.”   
Cedrik came forward again, testing his former student with a series of quick slashes. She got the rhythm and timed one of them.  
“Riposte!” She had timed his attack perfectly, deflecting the blade away and leaping forward to stab at Cedrik.   
“Shieldbash!” Cedrik slammed his wooden shield forward, meeting Priscilla’s thrust and pushing it away before continuing forward, bashing the heavy wooden shield into Priscilla, knocking her on her butt.  
“Ooff. Guess you’re still pretty strong.” Cedrik offered a hand to help her up but Priscilla had her own idea, springing up off the ground in an attempt to catch Cedrik by surprise. 

“Rising Slash!” She used the force of her rising body to slash her sword up at Cedrik. Yet again, he anticipated the attack and blocked it with his shield, but the blow at least drove him backwards, clearing space for Priscilla. She circled, forcing Cedrik to turn so that his back was against the wall. Priscilla backed off, stepping all the way back to the wall on the other side of the room. “Silver Flash!”   
Priscilla dropped into a low stance and shot forward, her legs propelling her forward at incredible speed. She lunged at Cedrik, thrusting the blade towards his head, the speed of her charge adding to the speed of the thrust. Cedrik barely managed to block the thrust, bringing his shield up at the last second. Cedrik was about to slash at her with his own blade but before he could she slammed her shield into his side, the momentum of her charge adding to the power of the shield bash. The blow temporarily stunned Cedrik, allowing Priscilla to pull her sword back and stab under his shield, stopping her thrust right before the blunt tip hit his throat. 

“I win!”  
“Indeed you do. I see you’ve invented something new beyond what I taught you.”  
“It took a lot of practice to get the timing right. A super-fast and powerful thrust followed by a shield bash using the momentum of the charge.”  
“And your speed makes it all the more deadly.” He patted her on the head, “I dub you, The Silver Flash!” Priscilla smiled, a wide grin splitting her face. “But be careful, that attack leaves you wide open with not much defense, be cautious when using it.”   
“I will be.” Cedrik removed his armor as they made their way back upstairs. “Cedrik, before you leave, I have something to give you.”  
“Oh.”  
“Do you remember nine years ago when I said that I would repay your loyalty?”  
“Of course.”  
“Well I intend to do so. Follow me upstairs Cedrik, I have a precious gift to give you.” 

He followed Priscilla up the circular staircase, his slower plodding footsteps not quite keeping up with her quick pace. Priscilla entered her bedroom, quickly removing the scale mail armor along with her boots and gauntlets. Underneath she wore a simple linen shirt and pants that prevented the scales from chaffing. “Much better, that armor was all hot and sweaty.” Her heart was pounding in her chest as Cedrik entered the room.

“Close your eyes.” Cedrik closed his eyes, patiently going along with whatever Priscilla was up to. He heard the sound of a heavy drawer being opened, followed by Priscilla rustling around. “Hold out your hands.” Cedrik let out an annoyed sigh as he held out his hands in a cup shape.   
“I’m really not one for games you know.”  
“Neither am I.”  
Cedrik gasped, shoving Priscilla away as she planted her lips on his. He gasped louder, backing away as he saw Priscilla’s nude body.   
“I want to give you my virginity.”  
“Priscilla I…” She interrupted him.  
“Take your clothes off.” Her voice was soft but she was definitely giving him a command.  
“Priscilla, I have no idea what’s gotten into you, we can’t do this.” Cedrik put his arms up in front of him, forming a protective cage as he shoved her away again, her attempt to kiss him failing. 

“Cedrik I’ve seen how you look at me when you think I’m not aware. But women are always aware.” Priscilla firmly grasped his left hand with both of her hands, guiding it against his will onto her right breast, placing it open palm onto her soft mound. “I’m not a child anymore. I want this as much as you do.” He relaxed a bit, no longer trying to pull away. She moved his other hand onto her left breast. “I’m a grown woman now… as you can clearly see.” 

The size and weight of her breasts in his hands slowly began to weaken Cedrik’s more chivalrous convictions. Priscilla let out a soft moan as his fingers sank into her breasts. “Oh Cedrik… I need this so badly. You do too.” His eyes fixated on her large pink nipples, watching them stiffen and enlarge under his touch. He rubbed at them with his thumbs, eliciting a shiver from Priscilla. Her nipples were thicker than any Cedrik had previously seen and as they became fully stiff, they protruded out more than most nipples did. Sensing Cedrik’s weakness, Priscilla placed her hands on the back of his head, pulling his face into her breasts.

“We both want this, stop resisting.” Priscilla’s breathing sped up as Cedrik began hungrily suckling on her right breast, still continuing to fondle the left. “Oh yes… this is what I wanted.” Priscilla’s head drooped backwards; her eyes closed as she looked up towards the ceiling. Cedrik’s tongue swirled around her erect nipple while he squeezed her left breast with his free hand. “This feels soooo good. I needed this so badly.” Priscilla let out an involuntary moan, not a cute feminine gasp but something deeper and more primal. After the moan, Priscilla went silent for a long while, savoring the feeling as Cedrik continued sucking on her nipples. She opened her eyes, looking down at Cedrik. 

“After all those years of lusting after me, you finally have me. Is the real thing as good as your fantasies?” She let out a sharp gasp as Cedrik ever so gently bit her nipple. He looked up at her, smiling as her breast fell out of his mouth.   
“You may be a grown woman, but you’re still a brat.”  
“Oh Cedrik… you know I’ll always be a brat.” She pulled his face into her cleavage. “But tonight, I’m your brat.”

Priscilla dropped down onto her knees, pulling Cedrik’s pants and underwear down. Dangling before her was the first penis Priscilla had even seen. “My over protective father sure would hate this. He did everything humanly possible to keep boys far away from me. Well father… this isn’t a boy, it’s a man.” Cedrik’s flaccid penis was around 5 inches long, pale in color but not as ghostly white as Priscilla’s skin. Hanging below it was a large ball sack and two heavy looking testicles. A mound of scraggly grey pubic hair covered his ball sack, pelvic region and the base of his shaft. “Yum.” Priscilla licked her lips. “Most young women would be turned off by this, but I love it. And the age gap between us is really hot.” 

Cedrik watched as Priscilla took his ball sack in her hand and opened her mouth, his sack disappearing between Priscilla’s red lips seconds later. Her tongue swirled around his testicles as she gently sucked on his sack. The scraggly pubic hair and aged skin gave his sack a rough feeling against her silky tongue.   
“Oh lord…” Cedrik let out a heavy sigh from deep within his chest. “Ohhh….” Priscilla looked up as she continued slurping on his testicles, pleased by the obvious pleasure she was imparting. If she needed anymore motivation, his penis began to stiffen and grow.   
“Looks like I’m doing a good job.” She continued to caress his testicles with her tongue. Licking them, moving them around, gently sucking on them.  
She broke off of his sack, moving to his rapidly hardening penis. She closed her lips around the shaft and began to bob her head back and forth, the shaft sliding in and out of her mouth as she did so. “Kinda sweaty but this is really turning me on. I wonder what cum tastes like?” As she sucked, Priscilla gently massaged his testicles with her fingertips.

The sight of his former student sucking on his penis was too much for Cedrik to bear. He fully stiffened, reaching an almost 10 inch length. Priscilla couldn’t fit that much in her mouth, as she thrust her head forward the back 4 inches would be outside her mouth. Priscilla pulled off of him for a moment, grabbing the base of his shaft as she playfully shook his member side to side. 

“God you’re big.” She put her tongue on the base of his shaft, pressing it into the underside of his penis as she slid her tongue all the way up the length, flicking his tip before sliding all the way down. “This size is incredible, its really fun playing with a penis this size.” Priscilla rose up, taking hold of her F-cup breasts and mashing them together onto his penis. Without being told, Cedrik began to thrust into her cleavage, loving the feeling of her soft breasts around his shaft. As he pumped into her cleavage, Priscilla would try to time his thrusts so she could lick the tip of his penis as it emerged from between her breasts.

“Put it back in your mouth.” The desperation in Cedrik’s voice turned Priscilla on immensely. She dropped onto her knees then opened wide and thrust her head towards his pelvis, pushing his penis 6 inches into her mouth. She could feel his tip pressing against the back of her mouth, any deeper and he would be sliding down her throat. She pulled back and took a few deep breaths before pushing forward again, only managing to get 6 inches inside her mouth. 

“Guess this is as much as I can take.” She gasped as Cedrik grabbed the back of her head and pulled it towards him while thrusting his hips forward, burying all 10 inches into her mouth.   
Priscilla gagged loudly as Cedrik’s penis slid down her throat, causing it to visibly bulge. He held her in place, performing tiny little thrusts that Priscilla could feel in her throat. Priscilla managed to relax her throat and stop the gagging, allowing him to continue even as she was deprived of oxygen. She urgently tapped on the side of his leg, he pulled out of her throat - Priscilla gasping for air and coughing as he did. 

“Looks like you had one final technique left to teach me.” Those words coming out of Priscilla’s mouth while she looked up at him pushed Cedrik over the edge. His clothes quickly joined Priscilla’s in a pile on the floor. She pulled him onto the bed, rolling on top him. Her tongue slid into his mouth and this time it was greeted by his own eager tongue. As Priscilla’s tongue explored the inside of his mouth, Cedrik’s hands moved downwards, grabbing her large butt cheeks. There was definitely lean muscle somewhere under the fat, but despite years of hard training Priscilla’s voluminous butt cheeks were still soft, Cedrik’s fingers sinking into them as he squeezed.   
Priscilla gasped as Cedrik rolled her over onto her back, his mouth parting from hers and hungrily clamping down onto her breast. Her already stiff nipples becoming almost painfully erect as he powerfully sucked, more forcefully than before. 

“I can’t wait any longer Cedrik! Make a woman out of me, break me in!” Her voice was desperate and high pitched, her tone causing Cedrik’s lust to boil over. He lined his tip up with Priscilla’s light pink vaginal lips, noting that the young teen he had once known now had more of a bush than he did. He knew not all men would, but Cedrik loved Priscilla’s mound of dense pale blonde pubic hair. She gasped loudly as his tip pushed inside of her, tearing her hymen before thrusting halfway inside. Priscilla’s arms wrapped around Cedrik as he lay down on top of her, beginning to pump his hips into her. 

“Oh my god… oh my god…” Her moaning made it all the better.   
“Priscilla you’re so tight.” She moaned loudly as Cedrik thrust hard, the tip of his penis gently kissing her cervix.   
“Oh fuck… oh fuck, this feels so good! Fuck me harder Cedrik!” “Oh I never thought this would feel so good… my vagina getting stretched for the first time feels so fucking good!” Cedrik thrust as hard as he could, almost leaving Priscilla before slamming his member into her back walls, the tip of his penis pressing hard into her cervix.   
“Holy shit!! Oh god Cedrik this is so good! Fuck me as hard as you can! Thrust it right into my fucking womb!!!” Cedrik kept pumping as Priscilla writhed under him, scratching her nails into his back as his heavy balls slapped against her groin. Her legs wrapped around him, pulling their genitals tighter together. Whatever final fleeting doubts may have lingered in Cedrik’s mind evaporated as his former student dug her nails into him, urging him to thrust harder.

“P..p…Priscilla if we keep going like this I’m going to cum inside you!”  
“Do it! Push through my cervix and ejaculate right into my womb!”  
“Priscilla… do you really mean…?”  
“Yes!” His question was interrupted by her insistent shout. Cedrik did as he was told, thrusting deep into his former student, pressing his tip hard against her cervix as he tried to get the final two inches of his shaft inside her.   
“Priscilla I can’t get through. Your cervix is too small an opening.” She helped him, pushing her hips towards him as he pushed into her. 

“One big push Cedrik, just one forceful push deep into me.” He pushed as hard as he could while Priscilla pushed her pelvis hard in the opposite direction. There was a few seconds of intense pressure followed by a pop and extreme pain as her cervix was forcefully expanded by Cedrik’s penis. His tip slid into her womb, feeling the delicate tissue of a part of her body that wasn’t supposed to have a penis inside it. She gripped his back, her nails drawing a thin streak of blood. “Cedrik stop for a second.” 

He held Priscilla, comforting her as the pain surged through her. His rock-hard shaft was still buried inside of her, preventing her cervix from contracting back to its normal shape.   
“God this hurts so much…”  
“Do you want me to pull out?”  
“No, keep your penis there so my cervix stays expanded.” Priscilla focused on her breathing, separating her mind from the intense pain. As the minutes passed by the pain slowly ebbed away.  
“The pain is receding. Start thrusting again but don’t pull out past my cervix.”

Cedrik began to pump as gently as her could. Priscilla’s cervix tightly gripped the area an inch below his tip while his tip pressed into the walls of her womb.   
“Keep going Cedrik, its starting to hurt less.” He grabbed hold of her breasts, squeezing her huge mammaries as he began to thrust a tiny bit harder, his tip almost leaving her womb before pushing hard into her. “This feeling of his tip pushing into my womb is strange… but I really like it. There is pleasure, but its mostly just super sensitive flesh. I can feel every tiny part of his tip pressing against my most intimate area.” “ooohhh… ooohhh… Cedrik you can start to go a little faster, but don’t pull your tip out of my womb.”   
He held her breasts firmly in his hands as he continued to thrust, gripping them tighter as the pleasure built. 

“Push your tip into the walls of my womb, it feels really good.” Priscilla’s back arched in ecstasy as Cedrik thrust into the sensitive tissue of her womb. “Oh yes! Right there! Push on that spot harder!” Priscilla gasped. “I can feel you inside my vagina and womb at the same time… god this feels so good…” The two pleasures were distinct but equally wonderful. The vaginal pleasure was strong and intense while the pleasure in her womb was more delicate but also more intimate. Their bodies pressed together as Cedrik continued pushing into her with short powerful thrusts. 

“Do you admit to checking me out now?”   
“Priscilla… you’re the worst.”   
“I know. But sometimes you need a girl like me in your life. When did you start noticing my breasts? I think I first saw you looking at them when I was 16.”  
“Around then. They were hard to miss.”  
“And now they’re squeezed between your fingers, lucky you.” He squeezed her breasts harder, silencing the devilish woman for just a second.   
“Somehow, you’re more of a brat at 23 than you were at 14.”   
“Cedrik, I fantasized about you as well, starting around age 17. You aren’t the only one having a distant fantasy fulfilled right now.” Cedrik’s only response was to thrust into her womb harder, Priscilla moaning as he did.   
“Priscilla your cervix is longer squeezing me, it feels fully relaxed.”  
“Yeah, its permanently expanded now, there’s no more pain. You can start pulling back past my cervix.” 

Cedrik did as he was told, pulling back until he was almost out of her vagina, then thrusting all 10 inches down her vaginal canal and into her womb. Her now permanently expanded cervix no longer guarded her womb, Cedrik’s penis slid easily from her vaginal canal into her womb with no resistance at all. Their lurid dance continued as Cedrik buried his 10 inch penis deep into Priscilla’s body over and over and over again. Priscilla was moaning loudly, the pleasure simply overwhelming. 

Priscilla’s moans shot up in volume as Cedrik grunted and ejaculated, his seed shooting into her womb in three long powerful bursts each slightly less than one second apart. The feeling of his warm viscous sperm coating her womb was incredible. She may have just been impregnated but Priscilla didn’t care.

Cedrik laid on top of Priscilla, both of their chests heaving as they slowly regained their breath. Priscilla closed her eyes, slowing her breath down as she reveled in the feeling. It wasn’t just the physical sensation, it was the knowledge that she was no longer a girl, she had been made a woman. Her eyes opened as she felt Cedrik try to roll off of her. She gripped him tight, holding Cedrik still. 

“Where do you think you’re going mister?”  
“I have urgent business early in the morning.”  
“And you can attend to it… in the morning. After I make you breakfast.” “Men… always wanting to run away right after they cum.” She held onto Cedrik with all her might, only loosening her grip when she felt him surrender. He rolled off of her, laying on his back and closing his eyes, a content look on his face. Priscilla nestled her head into the crook of his neck, falling asleep against him. 

Priscilla woke first. She had to walk gingerly down the stairs, the depths of her womanhood still very sore. “Guess this is what it feels like the morning after you have your cervix permanently opened wide. Kinda cool though… this pain reinforces that I’m not a little girl anymore.” She made bacon and eggs for Cedrik, who ate his meal mostly in silence while Priscilla smiled at him. He left shortly after, smiling awkwardly at Priscilla.   
“He’s all discombobulated and unsure of what he wants. He’ll come back.” She sighed. “And now I have the rest of the day to get a few things in order. And then tomorrow is the big day… I’m joining the Grand Cross Adventurer’s Guild.” 

Priscilla returned to her bedroom, looking at the large painting of her older brother Michael that hung on the outer wall. “I’m now older than you were when you passed away. The days are long but the years pass so quickly. There is so much that I wish I could tell you, so much that I want to ask you.” Tears welled in her eyes. Priscilla reflected on what Cedrik had told her, “Write my reason for joining the guild down on a piece of paper. If at any point being an adventurer no longer fulfills that goal for me, then leave and do something else with my life. Hmm… but what is my reason for joining?” 

She looked up at the painting of Michael, tears blurring her vision. “Michael, please watch over me. Be my guardian angel as I protect the innocent.” She removed the painting of Michael from the wall. Using her longsword, Priscilla carved “Protect the innocent” into the wall where the painting had hung. She paused for a moment, then carved “Make Michael proud” right below it. She re-hung the painting, covering the carved letters so that only she and Michael would know about them. 

(End of chapter notes: Backstory is now done and the main plot is starting. There will be more backstory for other main characters later on but not for a while.)


	4. Just a few Gnolls

Chapter 3: Just a Few Gnolls. 

(From here on, all dialogue will have a symbol in front so you know who is talking, this is necessary as there will be conversations between many characters. Can also be used for inner monologue. K=Kiria, P=Priscilla, other characters will be obvious as well. Example: K: “Hello Priscilla.” P: “Hi Kiria”)

Kiria’s long legs and quick strides made the walk from the Dancing Unicorn Inn to the Grand Cross Adventurer’s Guild a short one. K: “I’ve been in Astoria for 10 days and I’ve already run through half of my money. Need to earn more and I don’t have any better ideas. I could always get a job but… yuck.” She turned a corner, suddenly looking up at the Grand Cross Adventurer’s Guild. The four-story building was large, very large. But beyond its size, the structure had a certain presence. It was hard to describe, but Kiria felt a sense of wonder and slight fear as she looked up at the guild. She approached the side entrance, building her courage as she looked at the heavy oak door. K: “Don’t freak out. If I end up hating adventuring I can just leave and do something else with my life.” 

Kiria leapt to the side as the door suddenly swung open, her monk senses reacting just fast enough to avoid being smacked in the face by the oak door. A tall elven man in plate mail armor barged out, clearly in a hurry. K: “Some kind of lancer or dragoon, his spear is longer than I am.” Right behind him were three more. An elf who looked to be a priestess of some kind, a female human mage and a third elf, this one a bit younger with a bow over his back and two short swords at his side. K: “They have such determined looks in their eyes, they’re definitely heading out on a quest. Just from the way they carry themselves I can tell they’re strong.” As the door swung shut Kiria breathed in deep. Something about seeing those four heading out on a quest, the determined looks on their faces - it renewed her courage. She strode forward, exhaling as she confidently walked through the door. 

K: “Huh… so the whole first floor is just a massive bar and relaxation area. I don’t know what I was expecting, but not this.” Kiria projected confidence as she walked forward into the room, though it didn’t matter as no one was paying attention to her anyways. K: “God this place is huge, you could comfortably sit 400 people in here. That extended bar running all along the back wall looks like it could sit 50 by itself. There’s already 15 people sitting at the bar, though it looks like they’re just getting food at this hour.” 

Despite it only being 6:30am, there were already well over 100 people sitting at the various long tables that occupied the remainder of the room. K: “Looks like humans are roughly 60% of the adventurers here, elves and dwarves around 10% each. The other 20% are all manner of humanoid. Gnomes, tieflings, fairies, lizardfolk, half-orcs, aasimar, dragonkin, yuan-ti and various species I don’t even recognize.” A beautiful woman with blue-grey skin and faintly glowing eyes caught Kiria’s attention. She had dark red robes and an intricate looking staff. K: “Based on the skin color and eyes… I think that’s a genasi. How does a human mate with a genie exactly? Well Mrs. genie… for my third wish I want… your pussy.” Kiria smiled at her own dumb joke. 

K: “But how do I find a group? I can’t tell who is part of group and who is alone. Should I just sit somewhere and start talking to people? There has to be a more organized way to do this.” Kiria looked around the room, scanning for information. “Those stairs head up to the second floor, maybe I’ll find my answers there.” Kiria walked up the stairs, looking around as she entered the second floor. 

K: “Those 5 long wooden boards with pieces of paper stuck to them must be the quest boards. And then over here we have…” Kiria looked to her left, reading the sign above a 15 foot long counter with a large open room behind it. K: “Reception Desk. Perfect.”   
There were three people manning the reception desk. A young human woman around Kiria’s age, a middle-aged dwarven woman and an elderly human man. Kiria approached the young human woman. 

K: “Excuse me.” The woman looked up at Kiria, stopping writing in her books for a moment. K: “I would like to join the Grand Cross Adventurer’s Guild. I’m a monk of the Order of the Shadow Fist.” Kiria turned around, showing the woman her robes. The woman stared at her blankly. K: “Is there a signup sheet or something? Do I write my name somewhere?”

The woman smiled warmly, reaching her hand over the counter to shake Kiria’s hand.   
A: “I’m Abigail, nice to meet you.” Abigail had a cute mousy face with shoulder length light brown hair, freckles and a pleasant disposition. A: “I’m afraid you can’t join the guild until you complete a rank one quest to demonstrate your competence. While I’m certain being a member of your order means you are quite skilled, I HIGHLY recommend that you form a group before taking on a rank one quest, you don’t want to be fighting a pack of monsters by yourself.”

K: “Oh I certainly wasn’t planning on going out by myself. Is there a list of people looking to join a group?”  
A: “There absolutely is. The team recruiting sheet is right over there.” Abigail pointed at a small list on the wall. A: “In fact, two people were in here looking to form a group at 6:00am this morning, they’ll probably be back again.”  
K: “Oh wonderful!” Kiria ran over to the recruitment sheet, looking at the two names. K: “A fighter named Cyrix and a knight named Priscilla.” K: “Abigail, how many people are usually in a rank one group?”  
A: “The groups that survive, usually 4 to 6. Sometimes fewer but you have to be pretty strong. Six is the maximum amount of adventurer’s allowed in one group, the guild doesn’t want groups larger than that.”  
K: “Okay thanks.”

Kiria wrote her name below Priscilla. K: “Well if I can find these two, we’ll only be 1 short, although we may wish to find 1 or 2 more members after that.” Kiria turned back to the larger portion of the room, looking at the quest boards. The five massive wooden slates stood 8 feet high and 60 feet long, spaced 10 feet apart.   
K: “Abigail, how do these quest boards work?” Abigail came around the reception desk, heading over to one of the boards.

A: “I’ll show you. See these pieces of paper tacked to the boards? These are quests that have been posted. Anyone can post a quest so long as they have the money. To post a quest, you simply describe what you want done and the guild will tell you what rank it should be. The rank of a quest is the difficulty. If you want kobolds driven out of a small mine, that is a rank 1 quest. If you need a group of bugbears defeated, that is rank 2. You want a group to journey to the fallen kingdom of Alvin and slay Nosferatu, one of the six vampire lords - that’s a rank 9 quest. 

The guild has been assigning ranks to quests for several hundred years so we have a pretty good idea what the difficulty of various tasks will be, at least for all the common stuff. After we decide the rank, the person posting the quest has to pay the guild an amount of coin determined by the rank. If a group completes the quest, they get 80% of the coin with the guild taking a 20% cut.

These first two boards are all rank 1 quests. There are many minor tasks asked of the guild, so there is always an abundance of rank 1 quests. From the guild’s perspective, rank 1 quests serve to filter out the weaker adventurers, those who are incapable of killing bandits or a pack of wolves. The third board contains rank 2 quests on both sides while the fourth board contained rank 3 quests on both sides. The last board contains rank 4 quests on one side and rank 5 quests on the other. Rank 6 through 10 quests are posted on the third floor, but you have to be an advanced rank member, meaning 6 or higher, to enter the third floor. The amount of quests becomes less numerous as the difficulty goes up, but the amount of adventure groups of high enough rank to take them on also decreases.”

K: “Abigail, thank you so much for your help today.”  
A: “No problem!”  
K: “I wonder what the 6 through 10 quest boards look like? Do they even need quest boards? Maybe for rank 6 and 7, but I bet by rank 8 there are so few quests posted that you don’t need a big board. Hopefully I’ll find a group and we’ll eventually be strong enough to take on advanced and maybe even master level quests.” 

She walked over to the first quest board, looking over the hundreds of rank 1 quests. “There are at least 30 quests related to bandits, about that many for goblins as well. Wolves, kobolds, gnolls, pixies, slimes, giant rats, harpies, bullywugs, myconids, caravan escorts and a… what the hell is a kenku? And this is only a quarter of the board I’ve looked through, who knew there were so many types of monsters. What is that one over”

K: “Oh excuse me, I didn’t see you.” Kira apologized after bumping into a very small man. K: “Must be a gnome mage or something. He’s so short that I didn’t see him in my peripheral vision, even with his wizard’s hat. He didn’t respond when I bumped him, must be very absorbed in whatever he’s looking at.” Kiria continued looking through the quests, looking back at the gnome a few minutes later. K: “Still right there huh. With that giant wizard’s hat on I can’t even see his face.” She returned her attention to the quest boards. K: “Well, I don’t have a group yet, but I can read some of the quest descriptions while I wait for the other two to return.”

K: “Bandits have been harassing trade caravans running through the Sweegy Woods. Please kill them. -Merchant’s guild. Pixies stole a precious family heirloom of mine. They were last seen flying away from the Whitebarn town fair headed west. You don’t have to kill them, just bring the brooch back. -Maggie Smith, farmer’s wife. Gnolls have taken over an abandoned guard tower in the Sweegy Woods, please clear them out. -Royal Army. I have to collect purple cap mushrooms that only grow in certain caves. Those caves are filled with nasty, gross AWFUL spiders. Please protect me from those vile spiders while I collect my mushrooms. -Frankfurt the alchemist. The northwest Astorian sewers have a giant rat infestation. We could clear out the nest ourselves but we would rather not. -Royal Guard. Wolves have been coming out of the Sweegy woods and killing our sheep, please deal with them. -Farmer Earl.   
There hundreds of these rank 1 quests, I guess the world is a dangerous place.” Kiria looked back at the gnome. “That mage is still there looking at that one quest. What on earth is he doing?” She walked over to the gnome mage, kneeling down beside him. 

K: “Hey there, whatcha looking at?” There was no response. K: “Um… hello?” She put a hand on his shoulder, gently shaking him. The little gnome toppled right over, his head bouncing off of the ground. K: “Oh god I’m so sorry!” The gnome mage gasped as he frantically looked around, seeming very confused. K: “Wait… was he sleeping?” 

The little gnome sprung to his feet, whirling around in a circle.   
“Oh god, what time is it! I still have to find a group! Is it too late for today!?” He took a few deep breaths then pulled up his hat so he could see better.   
K: “Wait, he isn’t a gnome at all! That’s a young boy!” The boy was very short with brown hair and soft looking pale skin. His eyes, also brown, seemed very alive - large pupils that constantly moved as his gaze shifted around the room, the curious boy always gathering information. 

K: “You’re looking to join a group? But… how old are you?”  
E: “My name is Edelweiss Vanaheim and I am a very powerful mage. While I may look weak, know that I graduated Astrida Magical Academy 8 years ahead of schedule. I assure you, I am more than strong enough to take care of myself.”   
K: “So you’re… what? Nine years old?”  
E: “Eight actually, but I’m very strong.”   
K: “Uh huh… and why were you sleeping?” K: “This kid is full of shit. I doubt he’s even a real mage. He’s 3’4 tops and doesn’t even come up to my belly button, absolutely no way he could survive on the battlefield.”

E: “I was up all night practicing my spells and studying arcane lore. Watch this.” Kiria watched as Edelweiss held out his hand, palm up. A small flame appeared, despite its size, the little flame put out significant heat. A translucent red light flowed from Edelweiss’s body towards his hand, then into the fireball. The fireball grew rapidly, expanding to the size of Kiria’s head - radiating intense heat and light into the room. E: “And I have three spells. Almost a fourth, once I master it.”

A: “Hey!!! No magic inside the guild!!!” Abigail sprinted over, nearly tackling Edelweiss. He shook his hand as she approached, rapidly cutting off the spell from its mana source.   
E: “Sorry! Wasn’t gonna blow up the guild, just showing her that I can cast spells.”  
A: “Do it outside if you want to demonstrate!”   
E: “Sorry!”

K: “Maybe he could be useful after all. A mage doesn’t need to be big or strong, they only need powerful magic, and he has that. I can’t vouch for what will happen if an enemy gets in melee range with him, but if he wants to risk his life, I’ll let him.” K: “If you group up with someone and go adventuring, you’ll be putting your life in great danger. If you accept that risk and still want to go adventuring, we can form a pair. I think there is another pair looking for a group so that’ll give us four.”

E: “R…r… really! Great! I’ll be sure to prove myself!” E: “I can’t believe I found someone! I was sure that no adults would want to go questing with me!”  
K: “We should head over by the reception desk and wait for the other two.” Edelweiss followed Kiria over to the group board, leaning against the wall and closing his eyes while they waited.   
E: “Just a quick little nap…”

Groups of adventurers came and went. Over the next 60 minutes Kiria saw around 30 rank one groups and 40 groups ranks 2 through 5 enter the quest room and look over the boards. As they came and went, Kiria looked over their gear. With a few exceptions, the rank one adventurers were a sorry sight. Wooden staves, crappy looking iron weapons, leather armor, dented iron helmets and bows that looked like they would barely shoot straight. K: “Guess that’s what everyone’s gear looks like before they can afford better stuff.”

“Excuse me, are you two looking for a group?” Kiria spun around, seeing a young dwarf fighter and… Priscilla Von Lionel. Priscilla wore fancy looking teal colored scale mail with graphite colored boots and gauntlets. Slung over her back was a graphite colored knight shied and longsword. Priscilla was stunningly gorgeous, long pale blonde hair falling below her shoulders. Beside her was a young dwarf with a heavy battle hammer and iron helmet. Kiria’s expression turned nasty as she recognized Priscilla. 

K: “Yes… we are, but I don’t want to group up with you.” Kiria’s tone was venomous.  
E: “Wait… why not? Aren’t these the two we’ve been waiting for?”  
K: “This is Priscilla von Lionel, and I refuse to group up with her.”  
P: “Do I know you? I don’t remember ever meeting you.”  
C: “She seems like a prick. We don’t need her. You there in the wizard’s hat, do you want to join us? The three of us will be enough to kill some kobolds or smash in a few bandit skulls. I’m Cyrix the mighty and this is Priscilla Von Lionel, you’re welcome to come with us.” Edelweiss turned to Kiria, a confused look on his face.

E: “What exactly is the problem with her? She says she’s never met you.”   
P: “Never seen her, no idea who she is.”  
K: “Yes you have. You might not remember but we have met. I was an orphan on the streets of Astoria. I was running down the street and I knocked you over. I was 12, you were maybe 15 or so. Your guards beat me half to death while you watched.” Priscilla thought for a moment.  
P: “I do have some vague recollection of that. Those guards were my father’s men, I’m sorry they attacked you.” Kiria said nothing, continuing to glare at Priscilla.

E: “That is pretty bad, but it sounds like the guards weren’t acting on her orders. And besides, if we form a group today, we don’t have to stay with them forever. We can complete a quest, get promoted to rank 1 and then join a new group, which’ll be much easier if we’ve already proven ourselves.” Kiria drew in a long breath.  
C: “Well make up your mind quick. If we’re gonna go on a quest I would prefer to start early in the day. Don’t wana be trampin around the woods late at night.”  
K: “Fine… I’ll go questing with you once. But then we are splitting up once we get promoted.”  
P: “Sounds good to me.”

The four of them made their way over to the quest board.   
E: “So how do we pick a quest? Consensus?”  
P: “I’m good to do whatever you guys want. I’d prefer something that we can finish in one day.”  
C: “Let’s get one with lots of fighting, my battle hammer needs to smash something!”  
K: “Let’s just get this over with…”  
E: “I saw one about killing gnolls that took over an abandoned guard tower in Sweegy Woods. That doesn’t sound too hard. The location of the tower is known and it’s just a pack of gnolls.”  
P: “That’s fine by me.”  
C: “Aye! A few gnolls will be easy to kill!”  
E: “It’s settled then, let’s get directions from Abigail and head out!” 

Abigail handed them a map of the Sweegy Woods with a cross at the location of the guard tower.   
A: “Best of luck! Be careful and don’t get yourselves killed. I know gnolls don’t sounds strong but you have no idea how many groups get partially or fully wiped out on their first attempted quest. Stay together and be smart.”  
C: “It’s just a few gnolls, we’ll be fine.”  
E: “I have a little money if anyone needs to buy something. We don’t have a healer so we should probably at least buy a few health potions.”  
C: “We don’t need no damn healer, we’ll be fine!”

“Excuse me!” A young elven woman ran towards them. Her skin had a green tint, but what really made her stand out as an elf were her long pointy ears and dark green hair. “Did I hear you say you need a healer?” The group turned as one, looking at the younger elven woman. She wore a dark green dress styled in an elven manner and carried a wooden staff. By human standards, she was maybe 17 or 18 years old, though her limbs and torso were lighter and thinned than a human’s. “I’m Sha’Ael, a druid. I have nature spells and I can heal a bit. Do you need another member?” The young elf’s voice was shaky, she was clearly very nervous. 

C: “I don’t think we need any more help but we’d be happy to take you along, you can watch as I smash up the gnolls!”  
S: “Oh… okay. Well if you have an open spot I’ll come along.  
E: “We’d be happy to have you miss.” Edelweiss looked around, E: “So… does anyone need to buy anything?”  
P: “No I think we’re good now. Save your money.”  
Abigail waved goodbye as the newly formed group walked downstairs and then exited the guild out through the main door. 

C: “This is it! Our first quest. The beginning of Cyrix the mighty’s rise to fame and glory.”  
E: “So where is everyone from? I grew up in a little town called Wendel but was recruited to the Astrida Magical Academy at a young age. I only recently graduated.”  
C: “I’m from the dwarven kingdom of Hraesgard to the west of Thracia.”  
P: “I’m Priscilla Lionel of the Lionel Arms family. I grew up in this city.”  
S: “I’m… well I’m from Asolia Forest far to the south of here. I left because I wanted to see the world. I traveled to the human kingdom of Thracia and here I am. At first… it seemed like there were no elves in Thracia. But once I got to the capital, I started to see a few, and then inside the guild there’s a bunch of us, so I stand out less.”  
K: “I’m an orphan, I grew up stealing food and getting chased around Astoria by the royal guard. I was taken in by the Shadow Fist Monastery at age 12, I only recently returned to the capital.” Kiria’s face grew cold and angry as she thought about her last day at the monastery. Of Shinran killing all those students… including her best friend Jin. 

The group exited Astoria, making their way towards the Sweegy woods. Edelweiss held up the map, using one hand to shield his eyes from the sun.   
E: “I think we’re about halfway to the Sweegy Woods. We left at 8:00am and it’s around 9:00 now, so we should reach the woods by 10:00. After that… well we should go slower and be more careful once we enter the forest, but I think we can make it to the guard tower by around 11:00.”   
P: “We should take a brief rest when we’re 15 minutes from the tower. We don’t want our legs to be even a little bit tired.   
E: “Agreed. We’ll also need to be very cautious when we get that close, the gnolls are likely to be on high alert, might even have patrols.”  
P: “Do we know why the gnolls captured an abandoned guard tower in the first place?”  
C: “They were drawn there by food most likely. Then they stayed because it provided shelter and is an easily defensible location.”  
S: “How big is this tower?”  
P: “Not sure, the quest description didn’t say. But the guild assigned it a rank 1 difficulty, so I assume it won’t be too bad.”   
S: “How does the guild determine difficulty? How could they have any idea what’s in that tower?”

P: “That’s what the scouting core is for. The scouts patrol endlessly, keeping track of monster lairs, wandering beasts and anything else that might end up getting a quest assigned to it. A scout looked at the tower, counted how many unique sets of footprints there were, determined if it was only gnolls or if there was anything worse with them etc. Apparently, they decided it was just a regular pack of gnolls and assigned it a rank 1 difficulty. Of course, there are locations that are harder to scout. A vampire’s castle or a kraken’s underwater lair will require more skilled scouts. Someone who can see through walls, send a familiar in or utilize some other advanced method of intelligence gathering. There are also quests where they just guess. If a farmer says wolves killed his cow, they assume it’s just a pack of wolves – and it likely is. For the lower rank quests, a lot of the time they’re just making accurate guesses, that may well be what they did for this tower.”

S: “But what if it isn’t just a pack of wolves? What if it’s a dire wolf, werewolf or something worse?”  
P: “Well that definitely happens. As adventurers, we always have to remember that running away can be the best option. Better to live than to die gloriously.”   
E: “Well let’s hope there aren’t any weregnolls in the tower.”

They continued walking, eventually reaching the Sweegy Woods. The group marched in silence as they made their way through the woods. Cyrix would swing his battle hammer a couple times every few minutes, practicing his strokes as he swung at the air. Sha’Ael looked around in wonder, enamored with the flowers, trees and occasional forest creature. K: “Druids sure are weird, I can’t imagine being that excited about nature.” The time passed by uneventfully, the group stopped when they were near the tower.

P: “We should stop for a moment before getting closer. Is everyone good?” They all nodded except for Kiria. Priscilla sighed. P: “Kiria, I know you don’t like me, that’s fine. But if we’re going to risk our lives together, we’re going to have to talk. Are you all set? Do you need anything or want to say anything before we make our way to the tower?”   
K: “I’m good. I’ll say if I’m not.”  
P: “Fine.”  
C: “Lets hurry up and go! I can barely contain my excitement for smashing these gnolls!”  
K: “I Have a concern now.” Kiria rose her hand, as if asking the teacher a question.  
P: “What’s on your mind?”  
K: “I don’t think Cyrix knows how to fight. He’s going to slow us down and probably get himself killed.”  
C: “Why you!” Cyrix rushed at Kiria, swinging his hammer low at her feet. She leapt over his swing, kneeing him hard in the chest as she flew into him.  
C: “Oof!” Cyrix’s dropped his battle hammer as he was knocked over.   
K: “See… no idea how to fight.”   
C: “You… you just caught me off guard. When it’s a real fight, I’ll show you how strong I am.” Cyrix glared at Kiria as he picked his hammer up off the ground.

P: “Everyone stop fighting, you’re making too much noise and we don’t want to hurt each other.”  
E: “I’ve never been in a fight either. Not a real one anyways. I have strong magic but I’ve never killed anything that was trying to kill me.”  
K: “Well at least you’re honest, just stay behind me Edelweiss and I’ll protect you.”  
E: “I can do that. And I’ll blast anything that you’re fighting.”  
S: “I have some combat experience as well, so I’ll help protect you too. So long as we stick together and keep our wits about us, we’ll be fine.”   
P: “See. Good things happen when you communicate.” Kiria glared at Priscilla. P: “Now… who wants to take lead and who wants to look behind us?”  
K: “I can take the lead.”  
S: “And I’ll watch behind us.”  
P: “Alright, let’s move quietly and be careful.”

K: “Well that took longer than I thought it would, but at least we didn’t run into any patrols.” Kiria knelt down behind a large bush, signaling for the others to join her. K: “As you can see, the tower is pretty small, roughly 20 feet high with a single door. I see a few gnolls milling about outside the tower and three on top of it. The door is open but I can’t see how many more gnolls are inside. Ideally, we would get on top of the tower and attack from there, but the stone walls of the tower aren’t climbable, so we’re going to have to attack the ground level and move up from there.”

P: “We need to make sure they don’t shut the door and bar it. We have no way of smashing through if they do.”  
E: “I can open locked doors.”  
P: “You can? How?”  
E: “I have a spell called knock that I can use to open locked doors, chests or anything else. Though it will take a bit of time and I can’t be attacked while I’m doing it.”  
P: “Okay, well that’s good to know, but we can’t count on it in this situation. If all 5 of us attack I think they’ll retreat into the tower and bar the door. We should send two who don’t look intimidating to draw their attention, hopefully get the gnolls to attack. Then the other 3 attack from the opposite direction.”   
S: “I should go with the group of 2, I don’t look scary but I can use roots to immobilize the gnolls if they charge us.”  
P: “Okay good. Edelweiss, you don’t look intimidating either, you wana go with her?”  
E: “No… but I can if I have to.”  
P: “I think you need to. But once they attack, Cyrix, Kiria and I will support you from behind.”  
C: “Don’t worry little guy, just sit back and watch Cyrix slay the gnolls.”

Edelweiss’s heart was pounding so loud in just chest that he was sure the gnolls would hear it. Seeing his obvious discomfort, Sha’Ael reached out and took his hand.  
S: “Just stick with me.” Sha’Ael whispering into his ear calmed the boy a bit. Edelweiss and Sha’Ael moved in a wide circle around the tower, flanking it from the east while the other group got in position to the west.  
S: “Ready?”  
E: “As ever.” Edelweiss’s hands shook violently as he clutched his staff. He walked beside Sha’Ael as they came out from the woods, forcing himself not to hide behind her.  
S: “You there! Gnolls in the tower. We come to trade with you, gold for any food you might have!” 

The gnolls growled, looking about for the source of the noise before centering their eyes on the elf and tiny human beside her. One of them came forward, a low growl escaping from between jagged teeth. The gnolls were 4 feet tall with hunched backs and hyena like snouts. Their fur was dark brown with black spots on it. Where humans would have hands the gnolls had claws, more suited to running and tearing than manipulating objects. One of the gnolls swung a flail above his head, beating it into the ground before letting out a guttural howl towards the sky. 

The three gnolls outside the tower were joined by four more, the three on top peering over the edge to watch. The seven gnolls outside the tower charged. Edelweiss immediately began preparing a fireball while Sha’Ael gripped her staff, channeling green colored mana from her hands into the staff.   
S: “Grasping Roots!” Thick roots erupted from the ground, wrapping around and tightly grasping three of the seven gnolls. They struggled to break free, hitting the roots with their flails and clubs. The other four gnolls continued their charge, fangs bared as they rushed at their prey on all fours.   
Moments later Priscilla, Cyrix and Kiria emerged from the woods, sprinting towards the three rooted gnolls.   
C: “Rahhh!!” Kiria pulled ahead of Priscilla, who was in turn faster than Cyrix.   
P: “Wow… she’s even faster than I am.”

Kiria reached the first of the three rooted gnolls, he lashed at her with his flail, missing as Kiria easily dodged then launched herself through the air, smashing her knee into his head. She followed with a series of hard blows to the head, knocking the gnoll completely unconscious. The two nearby gnolls struggled mightily but could not break free of their root shackles. Priscilla reached the pair, the gnoll with the club swung at her, his blow easily deflected by her dwarven steel shield. She swung her longsword, its steel sinking into the gnoll’s neck. He let out a dog like yelp as she pulled her blade back, blood pouring down his side. 

Kiria whipped her head around as an explosion flung 3 gnolls into the air. Edelweiss took a deep breath, the exertion from casting fireball having drained him. His hands glowed blue as he gripped his staff and began charging frostbolt. Frostbolt didn’t require as much mana as fireball but also wasn’t as powerful. The gnoll who wasn’t hit by the blast continued forward. He was going to reach Edelweiss before his spell was done charging, forcing Sha’Ael to intercept his charge. 

The gnoll swung his club hard at the elf, she was driven back as she blocked it with her wooden staff. Sha’Ael leapt backwards and held her staff up to bash the gnoll on the head. The gnoll hurled his club at her face as he charged forward. The club hit her on the shoulder as Sha’Ael brought her staff down onto the gnolls head. It hurt him, but did not stop his charge. The gnoll knocked Sha’Ael onto her back, tearing into her side with his vicious teeth. 

As the smoke from the explosion cleared Edelweiss could see that he had killed two gnolls but the third had gotten back to its feet and was charging him, its fury propelling it towards him at an alarming speed. Kiria saw what was happening and sprinted after the gnoll, but she wasn’t going to get there in time. The three gnolls on top of the tower began throwing large rocks at Kiria, who was now within throwing range as she crossed between the two groups. Kiria saw the rocks coming and was able to dodge them as she continued towards Edelweiss. K: “I’m not gonna make it in time!” 

Edelweiss looked at the gnoll charging him, then looked at the gnoll biting Sha’Ael who was unsuccessfully trying to roll the gnoll off of her. E: “I can’t let the other one reach me.” “Frost Bolt!” A cold blue triangle shaped projectile shot out of the tip of his staff, hitting the approaching gnoll square in the chest. It yelped in pain and was greatly slowed, but it was still alive and coming forward.

Priscilla charged the last of the three gnolls rooted to the ground. The gnoll swung his flail, beating it against her shield as Priscilla looked for an opening. There was a loud thunk as Cyrix reached them, taking a running swing at the gnoll’s back with his battle hammer. The gnoll let out a pained groan before turning to bite at Cyrix. As the gnoll turned away Priscilla used the opening to thrust her blade into the creature’s neck. It let out a brief gurgling sound as it died. Cyrix saw the gnoll that Kiria had knocked unconscious and brought his hammer down onto its head. 

Moments later Kiria reached the gnoll that Edelweiss had slowed, leaping high into the air and coming down on its back with a powerful two footed stomp. She slammed the gnoll into the ground before pummeling it to death with her fists. With whatever minor strength he had, Edelweiss used his staff to try and pry the gnoll off of Sha’Ael who was now bleeding badly from her side. Working together, the two of them were able to pull it off of her, allowing Sha’Ael to pull a dagger out from somewhere she had hidden it, driving it into the gnoll’s eye socket. 

Edelweiss helped the wounded druid to her feet, positioning himself so she could lean on him. Sha’Ael grimaced in pain as she clutched her staff, hands glowing green again. Edelweiss stared in awe, but his attention was pulled away as something large came out of the tower. A larger gnoll with darker fur emerged from the tower, two smaller gnolls following behind it. One of the two with it was from the group of three on top of the tower, the other two still on top attempting to throw rocks. 

S: “Don’t worry about me I can heal myself, help the others.”   
P: “Over here ugly!!!” Priscilla screamed, trying to draw the larger gnoll’s attention towards her and Cyrix. It worked, the more heavily muscled nearly six foot tall gnoll bounded towards her, the two smaller gnolls right behind it. This larger gnoll looked halfway between a hyena and a bear, with more aggression to boot. Kiria sprinted towards them, gaining on the gnolls. Edelweiss ran towards the group as well, trying to avoid being hit by rocks thrown from the tower. Priscilla met the large gnoll’s charge, taking the blow of its heavy mace on her shield. The hard overhead swing pressed Priscilla into the ground, it was all she could do to avoid being knocked down as the gnoll followed up with more heavy blows. Cyrix ran at the two smaller gnolls.

C: “Mighty Swing!” Cyrix bellowed as he swung his hammer with both arms in a wide arc, smashing it into one of the gnolls with all of his body weight behind the blow. The gnoll was picked up off his feet and flung aside by the force of Cyrix’s blow, smashing into a tree as it flew through the air. The other gnoll charged the dwarf, knocking the off-balance Cyrix to the ground. Cyrix lost his hammer as he tumbled with the gnoll, resorting to punching it in the head while it bit at him.

S: “Regenerate!” Sha’Ael’s staff flashed green as the healing spell took its affect. The gashes and tears on her wounded side began to close as she continued channeling mana into the spell. S: “He got me pretty good, I’m not gonna have much mana left after I finish healing myself.”

The large gnoll rose his heavy two-handed mace high into the air, smashing it down on Priscilla’s shield. Instead of rising his mace to hit her again he continued pressing down, using his leverage and the mace’s weight to press down hard on Priscilla’s shield. 

Priscilla swung her sword in a wide arc into the side of the gnoll. But while the others were unarmored this one wore some type of thick animal skin on him. Her blade sliced through the leathery armor into the gnoll, but didn’t go deep enough to mortally wound him. The enraged gnoll growled, kicking Priscilla hard in the gut, knocking her to the ground. She rose her shield up, preparing to drop her sword and block with both arms if she needed to. Instead of striking Priscilla the large gnoll rushed over towards it companion who was wrestling on the ground with Cyrix, biting at the dwarf while receiving hard punches to the head. The gnoll rose his mace high into the air, bringing it down hard with a running swing.

P: “No!!!!!!!” Priscilla heard a loud crunch but from her vantage point she couldn’t see what had happened. As she rose, Priscilla could see a pool of blood forming around the unmoving Cyrix.   
P: “Silver Flash!” Priscilla flew towards the larger gnoll, thrusting her sword into it faster than the gnoll could react. Her longsword pierced the gnoll, jutting out the other side. Her follow up blow with her shield bludgeoned him a split second later, but the gnoll was still on its feet, her sword not having hit any vital organs. The gnoll bit down, sinking its teeth into the shoulder of her scale mail. His teeth didn’t break through, but there was a tremendous crushing pressure on her shoulder as the gnoll bit down with all his might.

K: “Whirlwind Kick!” Kiria’s shin smashed into the gnoll’s side with tremendous force, breaking bones on impact. The gnoll tried to face Kiria but with Priscilla’s sword buried in his chest he couldn’t turn. K: “Stunning Strike!” Kiria channeled ki energy into her fist as she threw her hardest overhand right, breaking the gnoll’s jaw and dazing him in the process. Priscilla pulled her sword out of him, allowing the stunned gnoll to tumble to the ground. The last remaining smaller gnoll rushed at Priscilla who squared up to face him.

E: “Frostbolt!” A cold blue triangle flew across Priscilla’s vision, hitting the gnoll and slowing it, allowing a winded Priscilla to easily kill it. Kiria repeatedly stomped down on the larger gnoll’s head, smashing it to a pulp. 

K: “I knew he didn’t have the proper experience…” There was no anger in her voice, only sadness as she looked upon Cyrix, the young dwarf’s head caved in by the gnoll’s heavy mace. Edelweiss put his hand over his mouth as he approached, seeing Cyrix lying face down in a pool of blood.   
E: “Oh god…”  
P: “We can mourn later, we still have those two on top of the tower to deal with.”  
K: “The door is open, we can go up through the bottom, I don’t think they’re armed beyond rocks, just try not to get hit on your way to the tower.” Sha’Ael reached the group, seeing their fallen comrade. 

S: “Earth mother, guide Cyrix’s soul into your embrace, protect him as he becomes part of the world spirit.” When Sha’Ael looked up she could see Edelweiss’s hands shaking violently as he looked upon Cyrix. He clutched his staff hard, bright red mana flowing from his hands into the staff. She had seen him cast fireball minutes earlier, but this was far more mana than he had put into the first one.   
S: “Edelweiss…?”

E: “AAAAHHHHH!!!!” Edelweiss screamed as he held his staff high above his head, a bigger fireball than the first appearing. The fireball grew larger as Edelweiss poured all of his mana into it, the heat coming off of it forcing the other members to back away. Edelweiss whipped his staff downwards in the direction of the tower, his fireball leaving a trail of smoke behind as it hurtled towards the tower. Bright orange flames exploded outwards as the eruption engulfed the entire top of the tower, blasting the two gnolls and parts of the stone guard tower high into the air. The two dead gnolls flew more than 20 feet before hitting the ground with a thunk, their smoldering bodies lying still. Edelweiss’s eyes rolled back into his head as he fainted, head bouncing off the soft ground. The group starred speechlessly. 

P: “Who knew a child could possess such power?”  
K: “Good thing we allowed him to come.”  
P: “Sha’Ael, do you mind staying with Edelweiss while Kiria and I investigate the tower?”  
S: “Certainly. But before that, do either of you need healing?”  
P: “No, my shoulder is a little sore but we’re good.”

Priscilla and Kiria entered the guard tower. There was a dead deer that the gnolls had mostly eaten along with some rations left in the tower that the gnolls had gotten into.   
K: “That grain is stale and mostly rotted, but I guess gnolls have low standards.”   
P: “We got the gnolls out of the Royal Army’s tower. They should probably just demolish this thing if they aren’t going to garrison it. Let’s look around for anything valuable.” Priscilla and Kiria spent a few minutes rooting around the tower.  
P: “Looks like bandits or someone else already cleaned this place out, nothing of any value.” Priscilla turned back to Kiria who was staring at her intently.  
K: “Sorry… about earlier. I judged you wrong, I thought you were one of those awful rich people who used to torment me when I was an orphan.”   
P: “Trust me, my family are exactly those awful rich people. They built their wealth on top of suffering. I’m trying to be different from my parents.” Priscilla reached out to shake Kiria’s hand. P: “Friends?” Kiria hugged her. 

K: “Don’t go setting your expectations too high. I can be kind of a bitch sometimes.”  
P: “Me too.” They laughed.

Edelweiss was still unconscious on the ground as they emerged from the tower.   
K: “Nothing of any value in there, we should head back.”  
S: “What are we doing with Cyrix’s body?”  
P: “I guess we should carry him back, the bleeding from his smashed head has mostly stopped.   
S: “I… I can do it.” The elf hoisted Cyrix up over her shoulder, her lithe body surprisingly strong. Kiria slung Edelweiss over her own shoulder, handing his staff to Priscilla.   
K: “Little guy barely weighs anything. Wonder why he fainted like that?”  
S: “Magic users have a pool of mana, if we overdraw from it, we will start to become dizzy. If we hugely overdraw from it, we’ll faint like he did. That powerful fireball pushed him way past his limits.”  
P: “But mana potions fix that right?”  
S: “Sort off. It takes a little while for your body to metabolize any kind of potion. If you drink a potion you won’t be able to drink another and get any effect from it until you are finished metabolizing the first one. You can really only drink 1 per battle, maybe 2 in a longer fight.”

The four surviving members walked towards Astoria in silence. 30 minutes later, Edelweiss began to stir. Kiria set him down as the young wizard came to.   
E: “Oh… my head…” Edelweiss sat in the grass, recovering for a few minutes as the world stopped moving around him.  
K: “Do you remember what happened?”  
E: “Of course I do. I blasted those gnolls off the tower. Fainting from mana drain doesn’t affect your memory like alcohol or a head injury does.”  
P: “Well you saved us a lot of hassle, and potentially danger in dealing with those last two gnolls.”  
E: “I just wish we could have saved Cyrix.”  
S: “We all do.” 

The group arrived at the Grand Cross Adventurer’s Guild just after 4:00pm, the trip back taking longer than the trip out. Priscilla went in alone, heading up to the second floor. She approached Abigail, who could already tell there was something wrong by the look on Priscilla’s face.  
A: “Was someone killed, where are the others?”   
P: “Cyrix was killed, the rest of us are fine.” Abigail’s head dropped.   
A: “I was worried about him, overly confident with not much fighting experience or training. I’ll send for the guild mortician. Adventurers dying while questing is pretty common, a lot of the time we don’t even get the bodies back.”  
P: “Thanks Abigail.”

Sha’Ael handed the body over to the guild mortician, an elderly elven man with a gaunt face and grim expression. The man said nothing as he wrapped Cyrix in some type of cloth and carried him away. The four remaining members entered the guild and marched up to the second floor, somber expressions on their face. Kiria approached the reception desk.   
K: “We completed the quest for the Royal Army, the abandoned watchtower is free of gnolls.”  
A: “I’m so sorry for your loss. Normally I wouldn’t ask for a quest breakdown of a rank 1 quest, but because someone was slain, I have to.”

K: “We approached the tower and saw a few gnolls outside of it. We decided that if we all attacked at once the gnolls would retreat inside and bar the doors, so we used Edelweiss and Sha’Ael as bait to draw them out. Our idea worked, we killed seven gnolls but there were 3 more, including a larger stronger gnoll inside the tower. We were ultimately victorious, but the large gnoll smashed Cyrix’s head with a heavy mace. After that, Edelweiss blasted the last two off of the tower.” She chose the leave out the part about Edelweiss fainting, it wasn’t important to the guild so she could spare him the embarrassment.

A: “Sounds like you ran into a gnoll pack leader. Some gnolls are larger and more vicious than others, if they demonstrate their strength, other gnolls will follow them around and they become a pack leader. That’s probably what gave them the courage to takeover that abandoned guard tower.”   
P: “I think the big one was a whole different species of gnoll, he looked halfway between a hyena and a bear.”  
A: “No he was the same species. When a gnoll is in charge of a group their body starts to change. They start looking less like a hyena and more like a bear. The longer that gnoll can hold onto power and the larger its pack gets the more it will change. What you ran into was a gnoll pack leader. If a pack leader maintains control of its group and continues growing larger, its fur will turn all black as it slowly transforms into a gnoll war leader. Gnoll war leaders are eight feet tall with the looks and strength of a bear. A war leader will usually have several dozen gnolls with him, including several alphas.”

P: “Alphas?”  
A: “Alphas are what pack leaders are called if they aren’t in charge of a pack, just bigger meaner gnolls.”  
E: “Sounds like nothing I want to fight.”  
A: “Nothing any rank 1 party wants to or is even capable of fighting. A gnoll war leader with a few dozen gnolls would be a rank 3 quest. An especially large and aggressive war leader with a full raiding party would be a rank 4 quest.”   
E: “Are gnolls the only creatures that change when they are in charge of a group?”  
A: “No, there are others. Bugbears, jackalweres and owlbears to name a few.” Abigail sighed, looking very tired as she went behind the desk and opened a safe. A: “Rank 1 quests pay 1 gold piece. Divided up among the four of you, that is 25 copper each.” Abigail handed each of them 25 copper.  
E: “Doesn’t seem like much considering we risked our lives… but this is the most money I’ve ever had.”  
K: “Higher rank quests will pay more, we just have to keep improving.”  
A: “And more importantly… now that you’ve completed a quest, the four of you are an official team, assuming you still want to join the guild after that.”  
K: “Of course we do, we’re not leaving after one tragedy, we.”  
S: “Sorry, but I actually will be leaving.” Four heads turned as Sha’Ael interrupted Kiria. 

P: “Are you sure?”  
S: “I am. I’m very glad to have met you but risking my life and watching friends die every single quest seems a bit too much for me. I’m not sure what I’m going to do yet, but I want to find a more peaceful life.”  
E: “You’re always welcome to come say hi.”  
P: “Yes, be sure to visit us sometime.”  
S: “I’ll be sure to.” Sha’Ael left the guild, leaving Priscilla, Edelweiss and Kiria as the three remaining members of the group.  
K: “Abigail, can we still form a group with only three people?”  
A: “Of course, though I would recommend finding more members before you head out on another quest. Do you have a team name in mind?” The three of them looked at each other.  
P: “We don’t, next time we see you we’ll have thought of one.”  
A: “Alrighty then. Well, be sure to stop by the shops before leaving the guild, you don’t have much money but 75 copper between you isn’t nothing.   
E: “We’ll be sure to.” 

The three of them made their way down to the basement of the guild, walking down many flights of stairs to get there. Jaws dropped as they entered the immense crafting and shopping area.   
E: “Wow! This place is gigantic, much larger than the first floor.”  
P: “The basement level clearly has a much larger footprint than the upstairs, this room is easily 1,000 feet long and 600 feet wide, it must go under many other buildings and the street as well.”  
K: “Wish I had known about this place when I was an orphan. Who needs to steal from street vendors when you’ve got far more valuable merchandise available.”  
P: “I suspect you would meet a significant amount of resistance if you tried to steal anything from here. And anything really valuable probably isn’t on display anyways.”  
K: “Edelweiss it looks like they… Edelweiss? Where did he go?” Edelweiss ran off towards the library, eager to look at the spell tomes.”  
P: “He probably ran off to go look at staves or something. They’ve got everything down here. Blacksmiths, tailors, leatherworkers, tinkerers, enchanters, alchemists, general stores, skill trainers, a library and… Kiria?” Priscilla spun around in a circle. P: “Great, she’s gone too. Well… I don’t need any new gear. I’ll go check out what potions the alchemists are selling.”

Priscilla walked over to the alchemist shop, the booth was currently being manned by a dour looking tiefling (child of human/devil mating) woman, her expression as sour as her breath.   
“Can I help you?”  
P: “Yes. What potions do you sell here, can I look at the merchandise?”  
“We sell all the potions, at least all the common ones. And no… you can’t look at them. Just request whatever you want. Are you looking to buy or do you have components you want to sell us?”  
P: “Sell you components?”

“You must be new here. If you have components that can be used to brew potions, we’ll buy them from you. If you’ve got a troll heart, unicorn horn, spider venom sacs or basilisk eyes bring them to us, the rarer and more valuable the component the more we’ll pay. Or you can simply buy potions from us. You seem pretty clueless so I’ll explain how potions work. Potions have a type and a strength. The types are mana, health, quicksilver, giant’s strength, antidote, purification, regeneration and many, many others. There are six strengths: minor, lesser, base, greater, major and supreme. But you have to be careful with the stronger potions. If a novice caster drinks a major mana potion his small mana pool won’t be able to absorb it all, the part of the potion that he can’t metabolize will simply go to waste. Other potions will have the same effect. Drink a minor quicksilver potion and it’ll boost your reflexes and quickness by a small amount. If you drink a greater quicksilver potion and it’ll still boost your reflexes, but most of the potions will go to waste.”  
P: “So I have to keep questing and get stronger to be able to metabolize the higher level potions?”  
“Correct.”  
P: “Alright, and how much do minor mana and health potions cost?”  
“20 copper per potion.”  
P: “Alright, I’ll buy a minor health potion then.” 

The woman disappeared for a second, returning with a small vial filled with pale red liquid.   
“Here you go.”  
P: “Do I have to drink a potion all at once or could I drink half and save the rest for later?”  
“Have to drink potions all at once, that’s how they work. Potions have magical properties beyond what the physical components alone would imbue, the magic only works if you drink the whole thing.”  
P: “Alright, thanks for all the info.”  
“Thanks for all the future business.” Priscilla pocketed the minor health potion and went to look for the others. She found Kiria browsing items in the general store.

K: “They have everything here… EVERYTHING. Horseshoes, nails, fireworks, glue, hair dye, bandages, shoes, hats, beads, ink, parchment paper, leather straps, rope, whistles and erotic underwear.”  
P: “Erotic underwear?”  
K: “Yeah, wana see?” Before Priscilla could answer Kiria brought over two thongs, one silver and the other dark blue. K: “We can buy you blue and silver slutty panties and bra, your family colors.”  
P: “I’ll pass… but thanks.”   
K: “You sure…” Kiria held the thong over her pelvis, making cat claws with her other hand.  
P: “You’re the worst. I bought a minor health potion for 20 copper so we have 55 left if we want to buy anything.”   
K: “I think we’re good for now.”

Priscilla left to go find Edelweiss. “Where did he go? Is he looking at staves… or maybe he went to the tailor to look at wizard’s robes?”  
Edelweiss entered the library, standing on his tippy toes to see over the counter. An aasimar (child of human/angel mating) librarian in what looked like priest’s robes came over to the counter, a bemused look on his face as he looked down at Edelweiss. Most aasimar had human looking facial features but this man was more elven, suggesting that he was the child of an elf/angel mating, a rarer form of aasimar. 

“And who might you be?”  
E: “Edelweiss Vanaheim. I only just recently became a member of the guild and I don’t think I actually have enough coin to buy anything… I just want to look.”  
“Are you sure you’re a member? I don’t see an emblem around your neck.”  
E: “I only just completed my first quest so I don’t have my emblem yet. Am I allowed back into the library to browse?”  
“I’m sorry but I can’t let you in until you can prove that you’re a member of the guild. But you do understand, obtaining a spell tome doesn’t mean you automatically learn that spell. You have to practice for a long time before you’ll be able to perform it. Paying a trainer will cost you precious coin, but it will greatly speed up the acquisition of new knowledge.”

E: “I graduated from Astrida Magical Academy so I already know all that stuff. Despite my age, I already have a few spells.”  
“I see. Well, be sure to stay safe on your quests so that you can come back and purchase spell tomes.”   
E: “I will. And next time you see me I’ll have my guild emblem.” Edelweiss looked around. E: “Where did the others go off to? Oh, there’s Priscilla over there.”   
E: “Hey there! Buy anything cool?”  
P: “A minor health potion, we don’t have a healer so I figured we might need it. We have 55 copper left if we want to buy anything.”  
E: “I had 15 of my own so we’ve got 70 copper. We should probably just save our money for now, most of the decent gear starts at 1 gold per gear piece.”  
P: “Trust me, really high quality gear goes for a lot more than 1 gold per piece. You wouldn’t believe how much I paid for what I’m wearing now.” Kiria joined them a moment later.

K: “So are we ready to head out? Does everyone have a place to stay? I’ve been renting a room in an inn if anyone wants to stay with me for the night.”  
P: “Oh don’t be silly. You two will be staying in my house from now on.”  
K: “You mean Lionel Manor… I’d really rather not. I know we’re friends now, but I’d probably have an allergic reaction if I stayed there.”  
P: “No silly. Lionel Manor is my father’s house. I’m offering MY house. It’s not quite as large or luxurious as the family manor but it’s more than big enough for the three of us. C’mon, I’ll show you the way.”  
E: “Do I get my own bedroom?”  
P: “Yep. My bedroom is on the third floor and there are two more bedrooms on the second floor. So you can each have your own.”  
E: “Hooray! I’m used to having no less than 3 roommates at the academy, it’ll be really nice having my own room.” They left the guild, walking through the streets of Astoria as they made their way towards Priscilla’s house. 

The group of three drew a lot of attention as they walked down the street. The citizens of Astoria were used to seeing adventurers in the city, especially near the guild. But two gorgeous women and an eight year old mage who didn’t even come up to their belly buttons was pretty unusual.   
P: “So we’ve got 70 copper, what do we think needs to be bought most urgently once we have some more money?”  
E: “Well… I’m always down to buy spell tomes. They won’t let me into the library until I have my emblem. I could also use a more powerful staff, or wizard’s clothing. Kiria, you seem like you could use some leather armor, those monk robes you have don’t offer much protection.”  
K: “They aren’t meant to offer protection. These robes and leggings absorb nearly all light. At night or if I’m in the shade I’ll be harder to see. But yes, some light flexible leather armor under my robes would be good.” 

P: “Edelweiss how does mage’s gear work, it’s supposed to make your magic stronger or something right?   
E: “Yes, staves or wands channel your magic and make it stronger, certain types of wizard’s robes also enhance your magic. For clothing to enhance magic, it needs to be made out of enchanted materials like spell silk, mage weave or ethereal thread. My clothes have no magical properties and my oak staff that I got at Astrida Academy only enhances my spells a little bit.”  
P: “I’ve heard you and other people refer to mages, sorcerers and wizards, what’s the difference between them?”  
E: “Mage and wizard are two words for the same thing. Arcane magic users who cast magic by understanding and manipulating mana. There’s a lot of equations and theory involved, plus you have to understand a lot about the basic elements of the world, fire, water, lighting etc. Sorcerers conjure magic from emotion and innate understanding. They don’t even need spell tomes or trainers. Sorcerers can visualize spells and just kind of figure them out.”

K: “So it’s better to be a sorcerer if you have the talent?”  
E: “Not necessarily. It requires a lot of emotional control and sorcerers are generally less efficient with their mana usage so they tire after fewer spells. There are also certain very precise spells that many wizards could cast if they practiced and studied enough but very few sorcerers ever could. But on the plus side, sorcerers don’t have to study as much so they have more time for physical training.”

K: “What about the magic that Sha’Ael used, that’s druid nature magic right?”  
E: “Yep. There are five schools of magic. Arcane, which we just talked about. Then there is nature magic used by druids and rangers. They are mixing their own mana with the latent mana in the environment and using that to cast nature based spells. But you have to be really in touch with nature and the outdoors to do that, it isn’t something that you could simply learn in a few months. It takes years just to become a novice and probably a decade or more to become an intermediate user.”   
P: “Is that why most druids and a lot of rangers are elves?”  
E: “The longer lifespan is part of it, but elves are also naturally close with nature, so that helps as well.” Priscilla nodded her head in understanding.

P: “The third school is divine magic right? Paladins, clerics and priests.”  
E: “Yes, power granted to you by a specific god that you worship. The knowledge of the magic comes from your god, but you still have to supply the mana and ability to cast it. The fourth school is spiritual magic. Monks, shaman and bards. For monks like Kiria, that means using Ki, the energy of your body to perform physical feats, there are supposedly some monks who can perform spell like abilities but I’ve never seen one.” Kiria interrupted his explanation. 

K: “I have. Shinran, the master of my school has at least one and I suspect more incredibly powerful magic-like monk abilities.”  
E: “Well that, along with shaman’s chanting and totems plus a bard’s music or singing are spiritual magic. The fifth school is patron magic. A powerful patron, such as a devil, demon, outsider, archangel, dragon, giant, vampire lord, lich, genie or some other powerful creature agrees to be your patron and channels some of their power to you, along with giving you rare magical knowledge. Patron magic is used by warlocks and patron knights.”

K: “Patron knight?”  
E: “If your power is from an ancient greatwyrm you would be a dragon or wyrm knight, if it’s from a fairy queen you would be a fairy knight.”  
K: “So a patron knight is like a paladin?”  
E: “Very similar yes. And warlocks are like priests, less physical combat ability than a paladin or patron knight but stronger magic.”

They arrived at Priscilla’s house, Kiria and Edelweiss both gaping open mouthed at the size of it.  
P: “Well… here’s my house.”   
K: “This is where you live?!”  
P: “Yep… my father has a tremendous amount of money, he bought it for me.” Priscilla unlocked the door and gestured for the others to follow her inside. P: “So here’s the first floor. Kitchen, dining room, living room and study. Below us is a wide open basement for sparring. The second floor contains two large bedrooms, each with their own closet and bathroom. The third floor is my room, the master bedroom, along with an outdoor deck with six chairs and two big tables. Here, let me show you your rooms.”

They followed Priscilla up the spiral staircase to the two second floor bedrooms. Each one contained a single large bed, furniture, a closet and a large private bathroom complete with a huge tub that could be filled with hot or cold water.”  
K: “This is… I never thought I would see anything like this let alone get to live in it.”  
P: “Well, so long as you don’t die on a quest you can live here for as long as you want.”  
E: “Thank you so much for this.” Edelweiss entered the bedroom farthest from the stairs, putting his few meager belongings into the dresser and closet. His most prized possession, his spell book, he set in the nightstand by the bed. 

Priscilla began cooking dinner while the others put their belongings away. P: “Hmm… how about pork with a spicy sauce and cooked vegetables on the side. That sounds good.” Kiria came down the stairs and helped Priscilla finish making dinner while Edelweiss set the dining room table. When it was all served, they tore in.

K: “This is delicious. Much better than the food I ate at the monastery. They only ever made very basic food, usually boiled rice with some kind of meat and vegetables that would go on top of it.”  
E: “Astride Magical Academy wasn’t much better.”  
P: “Thanks, I’m only an amateur cook but I try. So… what do we want our team name to be?”  
K: “Do we want something tough, or maybe something mysterious?”  
E: “Four Soggy Socks.”  
K: “Or… something goofy.”  
P: “How about… Azure Sky?”  
K: “That’s decent I guess, but I don’t love it. We could name ourselves A Prayer Answered, or… A Wish Fulfilled. Someone prayed or wished for help and we showed up.”  
P: “That seems a bit arrogant though.”  
E: “I know. How about Sacred Oath? And we make some oath that we have to uphold.”  
P: “I kinda like that idea.”  
K: “I think we should sleep on it, convene tomorrow morning before we head back to the guild.”  
P: “That sounds good to me.”

They all returned to their rooms. Edelweiss laid down on his bed, lighting the large wax candle that sat on his nightstand. E: “I’ve got three spells learned, frostbolt, fireball and knock. I’m working on a fourth, mage armor. What should I work on next? I have the theory, equations and casting instructions for lightning bolt and magical fog, I can think of instances where it would certainly be useful to have one of those spells, but I should probably at least look over the spell tomes they have in the library and see if there are any that would help the group more. I’m a bit tired but it’s not too late yet, I can practice mage armor for a bit before I sleep.”

Edelweiss set to practicing the spell he had been working on. His spell book contained pages and pages of notes on mage armor. Some of the notes were his own observations – little bits of knowledge he had gained while practicing. The rest of the notes were information copied from a spell tome he had borrowed back at Astrida. Edelweiss stood in the center of his room, visualizing himself performing the spell.   
E: “Concentrate my mana into dense thin strands and weave them together like I’m weaving silk. As the thread-like strands weave together into a sort of fabric, I lay them over me and put more mana into the threads until they stiffen. As the weave grows, the stiffened parts will keep intact while the threads that I am growing will have to be shaped and then stiffened. When it’s all done, I’ll have a strong barrier over me that will be able to take a few hard blows before breaking apart.” Edelweiss took a deep breath.

E: “Here I go.” Edelweiss clutched his staff, his hands beginning to glow with a pale white light that flowed into his staff. As Edelweiss carefully poured more mana into the spell thin barely visible threads of mana began to appear, weaving themselves together under Edelweiss’s guidance. As the weave grew Edelweiss laid the fully formed portion over himself and put more mana into it, causing that part of the weave to stiffen. He continued growing the weave, stiffening it as it grew. He drew near to the end when he would have to connect all the remaining threads, forming a complete barrier around him. But that last part was the hardest and the final threads didn’t tie together correctly, causing the whole weave to lose stability. 

E: “Almost… very close that time.” He practiced a few more times, nearly completing it but losing the stability of his mage armor on the final step.   
E: “I’m getting really close. Probably 1 or 2 more nights of practice and I’ll have it down. Should go to bed, it’s pretty late now and we’ll likely have another long day tomorrow.”

(End of chapter notes: First mission completed! That chapter explained how the guild functions along with the potion system, magic system and skill acquisition. There are still a few more concepts to explain but I’ll try to spread them out so you aren’t trying to absorb it all at once.)


	5. Big Scary Monsters/Interlude part 1

Kiria rose as the first rays of sun entered her bedroom. K: “ _Yesterday was the most physical exertion I’ve performed since I was at the monastery, no wonder I slept like a baby_.” She made her way downstairs into the kitchen, opening the drawers and looking at Priscilla’s ingredients. K: “ _Hmmm… Lots of vegetables. Bunch of meat packed in salt. I could make vegetable soup with bits of beef in it for breakfast, surprise the others_.” She set about making her beef and vegetable soup, finishing by the time Edelweiss and Priscilla came downstairs.

K: “Breakfast is ready!”

E: “Wow! You’re the best Kiria!”

P: “I like this idea of guests making breakfast! Maybe Edelweiss will do it next…”

E: “Don’t push your luck. Besides… my cooking is awful.” They discussed their plans for the day as they ate breakfast, occasionally slurping between sentences.

P: “So has everyone thought about team names? What are our favorites?”

K: “I know it’s very self-serious but I still like An Answered Prayer or A Wish Fulfilled.”

P: “Do we really want such an arrogant name though?”

K: “I mean… most team names are pretty arrogant.”

E: “How about Shara, the name of the night star? Its intense dark blue color makes it the first star visible at night. If you make a wish to Shara and finish saying it before any other stars are visible your wish will be granted.”

P: “Shara is also the goddess of night, endings and decay, not sure we want our team associated with her. “

K: “We could go with Night Star. That’s tough sounding and cool. People will know it’s referencing the night star but the name doesn’t directly reference Shara.” 

E: “That works for me.”

P: “I don’t love it, I prefer Edelweiss’s idea of Sacred Oath, but I could live with Night Star.”

E: “I’m okay with either.”

K: “Well… I guess we should vote on it. Answered Prayer is my favorite but I know everyone else hates it so I vote for Night Star. Priscilla, I believe Sacred Oath gets your vote right?”

P: “Yep.”

E: “So that leaves me.” The boy shrunk back as the two women stared at him. E: “Everyone has to look away, you’re making me nervous!”

K: “Fine…”

E: “Alright… I vote for…” E: “ _Which do I prefer?_ ”

K: “Can we turn around yet?”

E: “No, I’m thinking.” Kiria tapped her foot, making Edelweiss nervous. “I like Sacred Oath a little bit better. It will force us to make a serious oath and then hold to it.”

P: “Alright, two votes for Sacred Oath, that’s our team name.”

K: “So… what’s our oath?”

E: “I don’t think we should pick one yet. We should continue adventuring and eventually figure out what is more important to us than anything else.”

P: “I can agree to that.”

K: “As can I.” Priscilla looked over at the grandfather clock.

P: “Well it’s almost 7:00 we should get going.”

They made for the guild, immediately heading up to the second floor when they arrived.

P: “Hey Abigail!”

A: “Hi there! Did you come up with a team name?”

P: “Yep. Sacred Oath.”

A: “I like it. Do you have an oath picked out?”

E: “Not yet, we’re gonna let one come to us naturally.”

A: “That makes sense. I’ll have guild emblems made for you guys by the end of the day.”

Kiria walked over to the rank 1 quest board, looking their options over.

K: “Most of the quests from yesterday are still here. Few new ones as well.”

E: “We have three members and no healer right now. We should try to find an easy sounding quest.” Abigail walked over to them.

A: “You guys might wana check the recruitment board, there was a priestess in here earlier looking for a group. I think she is downstairs now.”

K: “Really!?”

E: “We could really use a healer…”

A: “Her name is Caroline. Human woman, looks to be in her late twenties, blonde hair, white priest’s robes, wooden holy staff. Shouldn’t be too hard to find.”

P: “You two look at quests, I’ll go find her.”

E: “Okay.” Edelweiss continued looking for the easiest sounding rank 1 quest. “This one about pixies stealing a family heirloom and flying off with it sounds pretty easy. Pixies are tiny, the biggest ones are about six inches tall.”

K: “Sounds good to me.” A few minutes later Priscilla walked back up the stairs, a human priestess right behind her. 

P: “Kiria and Edelweiss, this is Caroline. Caroline, these are the other members of the group.”

C: “So nice to meet you all! I’m happy to be joining a group that has already completed a quest, much less chance of the group falling apart during a mission.”

E: “That definitely isn’t a worry with us. We already decided on a quest, we’re going to recover a family heirloom that was stolen by pixies. Shouldn’t be too hard, so it’ll give us a chance to get to know each other.”

C: “Great!” Caroline reminded Edelweiss of Abigail in certain ways. They were both cheery young women with a pleasant disposition and a warm smile, people who made you feel welcome.

E: “ _I really liked Sha’Ael, but this new priestess seems nice so far, hope she is useful in battle_.”

Edelweiss took the pixie quest off of the board, bringing it over to Abigail. E: _“_ Pixies stole a precious family heirloom of mine. They were last seen flying away from the Whitebarn town fair headed west. You don’t have to kill them, just bring the brooch back. -Maggie Smith, farmer’s wife. Abigail, could you mark Whitebarn on a map for us? And… do you have any idea where these pixies are?”

A: “Sure, I can mark the location of Whitebarn on a map for you. Though I have no idea where the pixies are, that’s the whole point of the quest really. The farmer’s wife could get the brooch back herself if she knew where they were.”

E: “Any hints?”

A: “Hmm… I’m not really sure.”

C: “I know a bit about pixies. They like streams, open fields, woods, mushrooms, flowers and lily pads. Any location that has most of those elements is where we should look.”

K: “Wow, good thing we found you Caroline, we never would’ve figured that out. But how on earth are we supposed to find a place like that?”

C: “We can look for streams near Whitebarn that run from open field into the woods or vice-versa and start there.”

P: “That makes sense.” They took the map that Abigail had given them and looked it over as they exited the guild.

E: “I see two small streams that intersect the woods somewhat near Whitebarn, but they’re hours apart. We can’t go to both of them and look around in a single day, especially since Whitebarn looks to be a six hour walk away.”

K: “We could split up if we have to. Pixies are tiny, they’ll run away at the slightest aggression.”

C: “I’m sure two of us would be more than enough to handle a group of pixies. But we should be prepared to trade them something they want in exchange for the brooch. I would really prefer not to hurt them if we don’t have to, they aren’t bad or anything, they were just attracted to the shiny brooch.”

K: “Well we’ve got a long time to think about what we can trade them.

The walk to Whitebarn was pleasant, if exceptionally long.

C: “Have any of you ever been to Whitebarn?”

P: “Nope, never heard of it actually.”

K: “Me either.”

C: “I went to the Whitebarn town fair once, it was really fun. They setup all kinds of games for children, contests for adults, entertainment, food, everything you can imagine. As the sun begins to set, there is a huge dance. Everyone dances for two hours and afterwards they crown a Spring Prince, Summer Princess, Autumn Queen and Winter King. The Spring Prince is the cutest baby boy, the Summer Princess is the cutest teen girl, the Autumn Queen is the most beautiful adult woman and the Winter King is the most handsome older male. People come from all over to take part in the festival, it’s really a lot of fun.”

E: “Too bad we missed it. I’m guessing its once a year?”

C: “Yep, next one is almost a year away.”

P: “Sounds exhausting.”

K: “All that noise and jolliness must be what attracted the pixies in the first place. Then they stole the shiniest thing they saw and flew off with it.”

P: “That’s what I’m thinking as well.” They walked a while longer, making small talk to pass the time.

E: “We’re most of the way there now, how do we want to split up the groups? Kiria and Priscilla, do you two want to form a group? Me and Caroline can be the other group.” E: “ _Caroline seems really nice. I’d like to get to know her a little better and this is a good way to do it_.”

K: “Sure that works for me.” K: “ _Be good to bond with Priscilla a bit more. We’re on good terms now but that could become strained by hardship in the future_.”

P: “Fine with me as well.” Caroline nodded, indicating that she was good with it. Edelweiss looked over the map again.

E: “We should split up soon as we have different destinations that are pretty far apart.”

C: “Do we have a second map?” The group abruptly stopped as Edelweiss slapped his hand on his forehead. 

E: “No… but we really should have brought one. Caroline you said you’ve been here before, are you familiar enough with the terrain to not need a map?”

C: “No. I’ve been to the town of Whitebarn, I haven’t explored the hills and woods around it. And I’m a priestess not a ranger.” Edelweiss sighed.

E: “One of the streams we’re heading to runs by Whitebarn further upstream. I would say the group that checks out that stream can follow it upstream back to the town after they are done looking. The group that goes to the more distant stream will need the map.”

K: “Priscilla and I can go to the closer one, I think we’ll be fine without a map.”

E: “Okay. Caroline, that means we’re going to the more distant stream. It’s a bit past noon now, you guys should reach the closer stream around 2:00 and we’ll arrive at the more distant one by 4:00 or so. We’ll search until nightfall then head to Whitebarn whether or not we found the pixies.”

P: “Sounds good to me. Just let Kiria and I get a good look at the map before we split off.” They split into groups of two and went their separate ways, Kiria and Priscilla navigating based on the landscape and their memory of the map.

K: “I think this huge field is the one we’re supposed to be looking for.”

P: “Yeah, I see hills way off in the distance to the north east. If we continue heading north across this field we should eventually find the stream. Then we turn left and follow the stream west towards the woods.” They continued across the seemingly endless field; eyes peeled looking for the stream.

K: “So how are you liking being an adventurer?”

P: “Well, our first quest ended badly, but I feel freer and more fulfilled than at any other point in my life. I know there will be hardships, but this is much preferable to managing my father’s company like he wanted me to do.”

K: “I never knew what I wanted to do. As an orphan I was just trying to survive the next few days. Then I was taken in by the monastery where I became a monk. I was focused on improving and ultimately graduating, but when I finally graduated, I was back to being an orphan.

P: “ _Her face turned so dark and angry when she spoke of the monastery_.” P: “Kiria… did something happen at the monastery. I can sense anger in your voice.” Kiria drew in a deep breath.

K: “We had known that graduation would be a trial of some type. What we didn’t know was that the instructors and head monk would attack us, try to kill us.” In her mind Kiria saw a vision of Shinran deep in his trance, eyes wide open but not seeing as he controlled those slithering shadows. K: “Shinran the head monk, he killed most of our graduating class during the trial. The instructors killed a few more. Including me, there were only a handful of survivors. Among the dead was my closest, well really my only friend, Jin. I ran away from that place, but I am now a member of The Order of the Shadow Fist. Supposedly they could call on me to perform quests for the monastery one day.”

P: “Would you do it?”

K: “I don’t know. There would certainly be consequences for ignoring their call.”

P: “Well whatever you decide, you’ll have us by your side.”

K: “Thanks, it means a lot.”

Some time later Kiria pointed.

K: “I think that’s the stream!” Priscilla stood up on her tippy-toes to get a better view.

P: “Yep, I think it is!” They ran over to the stream, Priscilla stuck her hands in, washing the cool water over her face.

P: “Now we turn west and follow the stream into the woods.”

K: “Where we hopefully find those mischievous pixies.”

\---------------------------

Edelweiss looked at the map again.

C: “I need to stop for a moment.” Caroline sat down on a tree stump, removing her shoes and rubbing the bottom of her feet. C: “I think this is the most I’ve ever walked in one day. My feet are aching.” 

E: “We should be close… maybe another hour.”

C: “ _Lathandra if you’re watching, please make this stream be close by. I know this is a petty request, but please… I can’t walk anymore_.”

They set out again, walking through a field of tall grass that eventually transitioned into rolling hills. C: “ _At least the scenery is nice_.” Finally, after nearly an hour of walking, they reached the stream.

E: “Alright… we made it. Now we just follow the stream east into the woods and look for pixies.”

C: “Hope they aren’t too hard to find.”

E: “Good things we’re almost done walking, my feet are starting to get sore.”

C: “My have been hurting the last two hours. We didn’t do a whole lot of exercise at the church so this is a lot for me.”

E: “Which church did you study at?”

C: “I’m a priestess of Lathandra, the goddess of morning, dawn light, renewal and cleansing. She is the source of my conviction and holy powers.”

E: “Well maybe you can ask her to help us find the fairies.”

C: “Oh believe me, I already have.” They continued east towards the forest.

\---------------------------

Kiria and Priscilla arrived at the woods. 

K: “Alright, this is where the field gives way to the woods. We’ve got an open field, a stream and the woods. Three of the six things that pixies like. Do you see flowers around?”

P: “Yeah a few, how many are we looking for?”

K: “No idea. Guess we should follow the stream into the woods, see if we can find any mushrooms or lily pads.” They entered the woods, both looking around for any sign of pixies.

P: “Aren’t lily pads usually in ponds, not moving water?”

K: “Yeah I think so. But maybe if there is an area of still water in the stream lily pads can grow there.” They followed the stream deeper into the woods, eyes peeled for signs of pixies.

30 minutes later.

P: “This feels like a wild goose chase. Wasn’t this quest supposed to be easy?”

K: “Well, it isn’t going to involve combat. But “easy” maybe isn’t the right word.”

P: “Should we keep following this stream or head back to the field and walk along the edge of the woods?”

K: “We’ll follow the stream a while longer, if we don’t find anything we’ll turn back.”

\---------------------------

C: “Thank Lathandra! It’s the woods.”

E: “Sure is!” Edelweiss ran ahead, Caroline continued her slower pace, not having as much energy as the young boy. E: “Caroline, these woods are pretty damp, there are mushrooms everywhere!”

C: “That’s a good sign!” C: “ _Though it means my pretty white robes are gonna get all wet and yucky_ …” Caroline sped up a bit, catching up to Edelweiss as they followed the stream deeper into the woods.

E: “Look over there, lily pads! I have a good feeling about this…”

C: “Yep. But we should keep out voices down, don’t want the pixies to hear us and flee.”

E: “Right.” Edelweiss followed the stream around a bend and suddenly stopped, ducking behind a tree. There was a point where the stream took a sharp turn, a large pool of still water forming on the outer edge of the turn. Caroline caught up, joining Edelweiss behind the tree.

E: “Pixies… six, no seven of them.” Two more flew by. E: “Nine. At least. Do we call out from a safe distance?”

C: “I don’t see the brooch with them, so I think we have to talk to them. I’ll try, maybe they’ll be less afraid of a woman.” Caroline stepped out from behind the tree, keeping her voice low and calm as she spoke. C: “Pixies of the woods, I mean you no harm. I want to talk to you about a trade.” The pixies scattered as they heard her voice, the tiny human-looking creatures flying away in all different directions. Caroline slowly walked forward. C: “I come in peace.” There was no response. C: “ _Pixies are such bizarre little creatures. But I know they’re attracted to shiny pretty things_.” She turned her back to the pixies, showing them her shiny blonde hair. C: “I just want to talk.” Silence.

C: “ _Just be patient, they’ll come back_ …” Caroline heard a flutter of tiny wings.

“Who are you? Why are you bothering us?” The pixies voice was high pitched and a bit shrill, but with a melodic tone to it.

C: “I am Caroline. Who are you?”

“I am Melanie. Why have you come to us?”

C: “I wish to trade with you. Have you seen any bright shiny brooches lately? If you have one, I would like to trade for it.”

“What is a brooch?”

C: “It’s a decorative item that you pin to clothing. Usually silver or gold. Sometimes they have jewels in them.”

“Mmm… I don’t think we have that.”

C: “May I speak to the rest of the pixies?” Caroline turned around slowly. Melanie was sitting cross legged on a lily pad. Sitting down Melanie was only 3 inches high. She had red hair and was wearing a tiny partially translucent light blue dress. C: “Your tiny little wings are very pretty. As is your dress.”

“Your hair is very pretty as well.” A few more pixies joined Melanie. Caroline smiled at them.

C: “Would you like some of my hair? I can pull a few strands out and give it to you, as a gift.” The pixies looked at each other nervously. Caroline inched closer. Out from behind a fallen log a male pixie emerged, he carried a pair of scissors nearly as large as he was, his tiny wings barely able to keep him afloat while carrying them.

“How do we know you won’t eat us?”

C: “Humans don’t eat pixies. Leave the scissors near me, I’ll cut my hair with them then leave you a few strands to safely pick up.”

“Okay.” The male fairy set the scissors down a few feet in front of her before nervously flying away. Caroline picked the scissors up, separating a several inch section of her hair and cutting it off. She set down the scissors and tuft of blonde hair then stepped away. Melanie flew over, stopping halfway to look up at Caroline.

“You’re very big.” She inched closer, finally taking the hair and flying back with it. The pixies seemed fascinated by the hair, distributing the blonde strands among themselves.

C: “Have you seen anything like a brooch? Human women like to wear them sometimes. Have you been to any human villages lately? I know Whitebarn is nearby, some of the human women there might have them.” A different pixie looked up.

“We were just given a pretty token from a human village. But it is ours now.”

C: “ _I doubt it was given_ …” C: “May I see it?” The pixies looked at each other nervously. Melanie nodded, flying away and returning with the brooch, keeping it at a safe distance. The brooch was an ornate silver flower, with little opals making the petals glow. C: “ _That’s definitely the one. Just need to convince them to give it to me_.” C: “Is there anything that you would accept in trade for that?” The pixies shook their heads side to side.

“This is our favorite, it’s so pretty.”

C: “Do you like shiny coins, I have a few of those.” They shook their heads again. C: “ _Can’t have walked all this way only to have these little pixies refuse to give me the brooch_.” C: “What about…”

“Show us your butt!” One of the male pixies shouted.

C: “ _Horny little bugger_.”

“He does not speak for the rest of us.” Melanie shouted. 

E: “Ask if there is anything they need us to do for them.” Edelweiss ducked back behind the tree.

“Who was that!?” The pixies scattered again.

C: “My friend Edelweiss. He means you no harm. He is right though, is there anything you need a human to do for you?”

“No. We don’t need help.”

C: “Surely you must need something…” One of the pixies whispered in Melanie’s ear.

“Oh right. There is a giant toad, he ate one of our group last week and another two weeks before that! If you kill the big mean toad, we’ll give you the brooch.”

C: “We can do that for sure. Where is this giant toad?”

“I’ll show you. Come.” Edelweiss came out from behind the tree, following Caroline and Melanie as the little pixie led them downstream to a spot where the stream fed into a pond.

“The big nasty toad lives in there. There are other toads, but this one is BIG! And MEAN!”

E: “ _There could be 50 toads in this pond, how on earth are we supposed to find this one?_ ”

C: “Melanie, do you have any ideas for how to lure this toad out?” Melanie put her tiny hand to her chin as she thought.

E: “How did he get the other pixies?”

“They were resting by the edge of the pond when his tongue shot out, sticking to them. They were pulled into his open mouth and swallowed whole.”

E: “Well… you won’t like this, but if he is attracted to pixies, we might have to use you as bait. Don’t worry, we won’t let him get you.”

“No!!!!!!!” Melanie flew behind Caroline.

C: “Don’t worry, we won’t use you as bait. But I have no idea how we get this toad to come out.”

E: “I could use fireball, maybe that’ll scare the toads out of the water.”

C: “I think it would cause them to hide in the mud if anything.”

“I could stand a ways back from the pond and sing. That might attract him to the edge if he recognizes pixie singing.”

C: “That’s as good an idea as any I have.” Melanie positioned herself a few feet from the edge of the pond and began to sing. Her voice was very high pitched but her singing was excellent.

E: “ _I’ll charge and hold a frostbolt, try to freeze the toad if he comes near Melanie_.” Melanie continued singing as Edelweiss’s hands began glowing a pale blue color. He held his staff tight, visualizing himself hitting the toad with frostbolt as it leapt out to snatch Melanie.

The little pixie kept singing, but there was no toad.

C: “ _This might not work_ …” Holding the frostbolt was beginning to strain Edelweiss. Melanie kept singing, minutes passing by.

E: “ _I can’t hold this much longer_ …” Melanie hit a high note in her song, her high-pitched voice elevating the note to a screeching pitch. The screech turned to a scream as the toad lunged out of the water. Edelweiss had been waiting so long that his concentration had slipped, causing him to miss the initial lunge. The toad landed and bounded again, the second hop bringing him less than a foot from Melanie. Edelweiss timed the second jump, firing his frostbolt a split second before the toad landed.

The toad came down, its long sticky tongue shooting out right as it landed. Melanie watched in horror as the tongue shot towards her… then stopped - suspended stiff in the air just inches away from her. Melanie fell down onto her side, heart pounding nearly out of her chest.

E: “Got him!” Frostbolt wasn’t the strongest of spells, but when applied to a toad instead of a big monster, it had the effect of freezing the creature into a solid block. E: “He’s frozen with his tongue mostly out, couldn’t have timed it better.”

“You could’ve not let him almost eat me!!!”

E: “Sorry about that. I missed his first leap, but I got him on the second one.” Edelweiss picked up the toad. E: “Frozen like a rock.” They walked back to the other pixies, Edelweiss carrying his frozen trophy with him. Melanie flew ahead.

“We killed the big mean toad! The little human froze him solid!”

E: “ _She’s one to be calling me little_ …” Edelweiss held out the still froze toad, showing it to the other pixies. They jumped and cheered.

“Big mean toad is dead! Not gonna eat any more of us!” Edelweiss looked down at the toad.

E: “ _Sorry little guy, I know you were just looking for food_.” Edelweiss raised the toad into the air, throwing it hard against a rock. The toad shattered into several large chunks, bits of frozen toad landing on the ground. A few of the pixies flew over, holding the frozen chunks above their heads in victory. Moments later they presented Caroline with the brooch. E: “ _Another quest completed_.”

C: “Thank you so much! So nice to meet all of you!” The pixies flew about wildly, ecstatic that the giant toad had been slain.

E: “Guess it’s time to head for Whitebarn.” Edelweiss and Caroline followed the map towards Whitebarn, their spirits higher now that the quest was over.

\---------------------------

Edelweiss and Caroline arrived in Whitebarn as the sun was setting.

E: “Caroline you’ve been here before, is there an inn or someplace where the other two would be waiting for us?”

C: “There’s a town center with a few inns and taverns there, we’ll find them if they arrived before us.” Caroline led the way to the Witch’s Brew tavern, as they entered Kiria immediately waved them down.

P: “Did you find the brooch?”

E: “Yep.” Edelweiss held out the small silver flower brooch. E: “Now we just have to find Maggie.”

P: “You found the pixies? How did you get them to give you the brooch?”

E: “Caroline talked to them and found out they were being terrorized by a giant toad. We killed it and they gave us the brooch. Quest within a quest.”

P: “Giant toad?”

C: “Slightly larger than normal toad.” Kiria walked over to the barkeep.

K: “Excuse me, do you know a Maggie Smith? We found a lost brooch of hers.” The elder gentleman looked up,

“Yes, in fact I do. She lives with her husband on the outskirts of town. Exit the tavern and turn left, keep going until you reach Hepity Lane, they are the fourth house on the left.”

K: “Great thanks.”

They followed the directions, arriving at the Smith household minutes later. Priscilla knocked. The door swung open, a sunburned man peered out at them.

E: “We have your wife’s brooch. I believe she posted a quest for it.” The man’s face lit up.

“Maggie will be so happy. This brooch has been in her family for generations. Come in, come in.” They entered as the farmer called to his wife. Maggie ran into the room, gasping as she saw the brooch.

“I thought I would never see that again. Thank you so much for bringing it back to me. How did you find the pixies?”

C: “We knew where to look, getting it back wasn’t too hard.”

“I can’t thank you enough. That brooch means more to me than you can know. Did you four come all the way from Astoria?”

E: “We sure did, left early this morning.”

“Well in that case I insist that you stay here for the night. We have a spare bedroom with a few beds in it. I’ll make you a farmer’s breakfast in the morning.” Maggie showed them to the spare bedroom, it was a small but comfy room with two beds in it. Maggie looked over the group, seeing that there were three adult women and one young boy. “Well I’ll let you four determine the sleeping arrangements. There are some extra sheets in the dresser if one of you wants to sleep on the floor.” Maggie left the room.

P: “Does anyone mind sharing a bed?” They all shook their heads. P: “Okay. Well who wants to sleep with Edelweiss?”

C: “It’s just sleeping on the other side of the bed, not really “with” him. I can do it.” Priscilla and Kiria slid under the covers of their bed, the two women falling asleep almost instantly. Caroline and Edelweiss slept in the other.

E: “ _Pretty cool that Caroline agreed to sleep in a bed with me. That means she at least tolerates my presence_.” Edelweiss lay awake for a while. E: “ _Being an adventurer is different from what I thought it would be. I expected that there would be more order and… safety, I guess. I thought the guild would oversee the whole thing and send out large groups with a leader in charge, kinda like the royal army. But they just let random people group up and go on quests in small groups. Seems a bad way to do it, Cyrix was killed because of it. I wonder if the lower level quests are just a way for the guild to get adventurers trained so they have groups of experienced adventurers for the harder more important quests later on?_ ” He looked back at Caroline. E: “ _Though I do like being the only male in a group of multiple adult women_.” Edelweiss laid his head down on the pillow and attempted to sleep.

As the first rays of sunlight filtered into the room… absolutely no one woke up. Not a single soul. Three hours later Maggie knocked on the door.

“Are you four awake yet? Breakfast is served.” Priscilla’s eyes slowly opened. Kiria had rolled over onto her side of the bed, her arm draped over Priscilla. Priscilla slid Kiria’s arm off of her and rolled out of bed.

P: “I really needed that, I feel so much better now.” Caroline’s feet hit the floor next as she nudged Edelweiss.

C: “Get out of bed sleepy, I need to make the bed.” Moments later they were all sitting around the breakfast table piling their plates high with Maggie’s farmer’s breakfast. Eggs, thick cut bacon, pan cakes and sausage.

“Boy, you four sure worked up an appetite.”

K: “This food is so good. I can’t believe your generosity.”

“You’re the ones I should be thanking for getting my brooch back. If you’re ever in Whitebarn again be sure to stop by and say hi.”

P: “We’ll be sure to.” They left Maggie’s soon after breakfast.

The journey back to Astoria took a few hours longer than the trip out as they were all still tired from the day before. They entered the guild late in the afternoon, heading up to the second floor.

K: “We’re back! Did you miss us!” Abigail looked up, smiling wide as she saw the members of Sacred Oath.

A: “You’re just in time! Here are your emblems.” Abigail handed each of them an emblem, signifying that they were now full members of the guild. A: “You’re rank 1 so the emblems are tin.” Abigail reached around Priscilla’s neck, clasping the necklace for her. A: “The chain and emblem are both made of tin. Every guild in the world uses the same 10 rank system. The shape of the emblem signifies what guild you are a member of. In your case, the cross emblem means that you’re members of the Grand Cross Adventurer’s Guild. The emblem has your team name inscribed on one side and your name inscribed on the other side. Priscilla looked down at her new emblem, holding it between her fingers. The Grand Cross emblem was a thick “X” shape that was flat on all of its sides. Priscilla Von Lionel was written diagonally left to right on the back of the emblem, while Sacred Oath was written on the front. It was only a rank 1 tin emblem but it meant a lot to her.

Edelweiss looked down at his emblem. E: “ _Can’t believe I’m actually part of a team. Who would have thought it, a kid like me_.” 

A: “And here is your 1 gold quest reward, split four ways that is 25 copper each.”

K: “Up to 1 gold, 70 copper now. We should head down to the shops.”

E: “ _And now I can go inside the library!_ ”

The four of them made their way down to the basement level.

P: “No one buy anything yet, we need to talk as a group about what would help us most. Caroline are you okay pooling resources with the other members of the group?”

C: “Of course. I have 30 copper of my own that I can add to our total.”

P: “Okay great. What do we think we should buy first?”

K: “Everyone say what you need most then we’ll decide what is most important. For me, leather armor, bracers and skills training are what I need most.”

P: “I already have excellent gear, so skill training or enchanting my gear is what I need most. It doesn’t make sense to enchant cheap gear but higher quality gear like mine is good to enchant.”

E: “Well… as much as I really, really want to buy spell tomes I already have several spells I am currently learning. Skill training or a new staff is what I need most. Proper wizard’s robes would also be good.”

C: “Same as Edelweiss for me. A better holy staff, priest’s robes or skill training is what I need.”

P: “Alright, well I guess we should split up and look at prices then reconvene. I’m gonna head over to the enchanter’s shop if anyone needs me.” The enchanter’s shop was currently maned by one of the fae folk, or fairies as they were more commonly referred to. Fairies were the larger cousins of pixies. While pixies were 4 to 6 inches tall, fairies were the same height as humans but with the wings and lithe body of a pixie. Sadly, fae bodies are far too heavy for flight, making the wings purely decorative.

P: “Hello sir. I’m interested in getting some of my gear enchanted. May I ask you your prices and what kind of enchantments you offer?”

“You just did it, so yes I would guess that you are capable of asking.”

P: “ _What a bizarre man. Although from what I’ve heard all fairies are a bit crazy, each in their own individual way_.” P: “What are the prices and what do you offer?”

“Lesser enchants cost 2 gold. Base enchants are 10 gold, greater 50 gold, major 250 gold and supreme enchantments are around 1,000 gold but certain ones could cost even more. A single piece of gear can only hold one enchantment, and the strength of the material determines how strong of an enchantment that gear can hold. Elven and dwarven steel like you’re wearing could handle up to a 50 gold greater enchantment.”

P: “What would happen if you attempted to put a stronger enchantment on it?”

“When an item is being enchanted, the enchantment spell seeps into it - twisting, pulling and wrenching on the material, trying to pull it apart on a molecular level. The power of the enchantment being applied determines how strong the twisting pulling and wrenching will be. If the material isn’t strong enough, it will be destroyed. The process is very meta-physical, but the destruction of gear that has too powerful of an enchantment applied to it is… quite spectacular.”

P: “Could you enchant a non-combat related item, like a chair?”

“What an odd but perceptive question to ask… I like you. Yes, you absolutely could. You could enchant a box to be perpetually warm or cold inside for food storage. A very desirable but expensive one is the holding enchantment. Set it into a bag, box or some other type of container and you’ll have a box of holding. The container will inexplicably be able to hold far more than its physical dimensions would allow. But despite everything being put into it, the container won’t get heavier because the excess weight and mass is being stored in another dimension.”

P: “Interesting. What sorts of lesser enchantments can you perform for 2 gold?”

“Piercing, smashing, slashing, ice resistance, wind resistance, corruption resistance, shimmering, corrosive, acidic, fiery, heavy and so on. There are many.”

P: “Shimmering? Like making something glow?”

“Yes, lesser shimmering will cause an object to permanently put out weak light so you can see in the dark without holding a torch. Base shimmering will be much stronger light. At the greater level, shimmering changes to greater radiance, which will put out holy light that damages undead or other types of unholy creatures, major radiance would do more damage.”

P: “And supreme radiance would do even more damage?”

“Well I’ve never seen that enchantment applied to anything. Presumably you could do it… but you would need powerful reagents that we don’t have on hand. An angel feather or the fang of a platinum dragon would work. Good luck finding either of those.”

P: “Fascinating. One final question.” Priscilla leaned over the counter. P: “Can you enchant a person? Let’s say that I wanted even larger breasts than I already have, could you enchant them?” The fairy suddenly became very aware of Priscilla’s hefty scale mail covered bust hanging over the counter. He burst out laughing.

“I like you. I REALLY like you. Tell you what… your first enchantment, half off. I’ll give you a lesser enchant for 1 gold whenever you want. Names Syila, ask for me if I’m not here.” Priscilla smiled wickedly at the fairy before leaving.

P: “ _Perks of being beautiful_.”

The others had reconvened and were waiting for Priscilla by the time she got back.

E: “Better staves, either wizard staves or holy ones cost 2 gold. We could buy one, but it would use up all our money. The skill training is pretty expensive, the cheapest trainers charge 5 gold, so we should probably hold off on that.”

K: “I can buy steel bracers for 50 copper, or dwarven/elven steel bracers for 2 gold 50 copper. Crappy cowhide leather armor is 50 copper, nicer buffalo hide is 2 gold 50 copper. Of course… what I really want is the crocodile hide… but that costs 15 gold.”

C: “So how do we want to spend our money? I’m new to the group so I would feel guilty having the money spent on my holy staff.”

P: “Do we wana buy Edelweiss a better staff, replace his oak staff?” Edelweiss enthusiastically nodded his head.

K: “Sure. Maybe buy bracers for me with some of the money from our next mission.”

E: “Hooray! Thank you all so much.” Edelweiss took the money and ran for the wizard’s guild, the part of the basement where the wizard skill trainers and some of the wizard adventurers congregated. He approached the counter, out of breath from sprinting over.

E: “I’d like to purchase a cherrywood staff, I have 2 gold.” He put 200 copper pieces onto the counter. The gnomish shop keeper counted out the money, looking down at Edelweiss suspiciously.

“I see that you have a tin emblem. Aren’t you a bit young to be adventuring?”

E: “Yes, but I’m very powerful for my age. And my magic will be a little bit stronger when I get this staff.” The gnomish wizard sighed, fingering his own steel emblem.

“I remember when I was young and too talented for my own good. Try not to get yourself killed out there. I survived to retirement but not all my friends can say the same.” The gnome went back into the storeroom and returned with a cherrywood staff, handing it over the counter to Edelweiss. “Blasting the monsters isn’t enough. As the wizard you will be the last line of defense for overwhelmed teammates, use your magic to protect as well as kill.” Edelweiss took the staff and nodded.

E: “I’ll be sure to.” The memory of Sha’Ael rolling around as she tried to get the gnoll off of her flashed through his mind. E: “ _She survived because that was only a gnoll. A worse monster and she could have been killed. Maybe that experience of not being protected was why she left the group. There was another gnoll rushing straight for me, but maybe I should have saved her first so we could have taken on the other gnoll two on one?_ ” He returned to the group. Holding out his new cherrywood staff to show the others. The wood was dark brown with a distinct red undertone. The craftsmanship used to make it was impeccable.

K: “Cool staff. Though I don’t understand how that will make your magic stronger.”

C: “I can explain. Plants absorb a small amount of mana out of the earth, air and sunlight. This mana flows through them, helping them to grow. An old tree will have had mana flowing through it for many decades, and that flow of mana will have shaped the grain and curvature of the wood. When an old tree is cut down the wood can be crafted into a staff. But that kind of work can’t be done by a carpenter. Different trees have mana flowing through them in different configurations, following the grain and curvature of the wood in sometimes unexpected ways. You need an experienced wizard or priest to feel that flow and carve it just right. When you channel mana into a staff, the mana will flow through the staff in the same way mana would have moved through the wood when the tree was alive, this amplifies the spell, making it more powerful.

Oak trees are the most abundant source of staves. They have weak mana flow but are cheap and easy to work with, plus their wood can be used to craft holy or wizard staves. For more powerful staves, light wood, like birch or rosewood are what you need to make holy staves. For more powerful wizard staves, you need dark wood, such as cherry or blackwood.”

K: “Magic sure is complicated.” They left the shops, heading towards home.

P: “Caroline we didn’t tell you this before but we all stay at my house, as a member of our team, I insist that you stay with us.”

C: “Your house is big enough for all of us?”

K: “Her house is huge.” They walked briskly, eager to be home after a long two days.

P: “Caroline all three bedrooms are taken so you’ll have to sleep with Kiria or Edelweiss. There is also a couch downstairs if you prefer that. Long term we can buy another bed if you want it. Sorry, but I really need my space, so sleeping with me isn’t an option.” Caroline looked over to Kiria, expecting the female monk to offer her room. Kiria avoided eye contact, looking everywhere but at Caroline.

K: “ _Really don’t want to sleep with another person, sharing a bed with Priscilla was a one time thing_.”

C: “It’s no problem, I can sleep on the couch for now.”

E: “Well… it’s up to you, but if you want to share a bed again, I promise I won’t snore.”

C: “ _Not ideal… but I already slept in a bed with him once and it’ll only be until we buy a bed for me_.” C: “That’ll work for the time being.” Caroline followed Edelweiss upstairs to his bedroom.

E: “There’s a huge tub in the bathroom if you want to bathe.”

C: “After the last two days… that sounds lovely.” Caroline entered the bathroom and undressed. She wasn’t as voluptuous as Kiria or Priscilla but had a nice body none the less. Perky c-cup breasts, a pretty face and a thin frame. Caroline pulled on the lever with an “H” inscribed on it. C: “ _Indoor plumbing in a residential home, we have nothing like this where I come from_.” She lowered herself into the tub. “ _Oh, this is lovely_ ….” She stayed in the tub for a long while, letting the heat sink deep into her bones.

Edelweiss was fast asleep by the time Caroline stepped out of the bathroom. She wore panties and a nightie as she slipped under the covers beside him. C: “ _It’s so strange sleeping with a boy less than half my age, but it’s purely platonic and he seems like a sweet kid_.” 

**Interlude Part 1:**

Freya’s breath turned visible as she exhaled, the translucent mist lingering for a moment in the moonlight. Though it was only mid-September, the temperature in Midgar was dropping well below the freezing point at night.

F: “ _Why did mother summon for me at such a late hour? What could so important that it couldn’t wait until morning_?” Snow crunched under her boots as she hurried towards the Winter Palace. Freya grunted as she pushed open the immensely heavy oak doors, entering into the great hall of the Winter Palace. Sigrún smiled at her eldest daughter.

S: “I apologize for summoning you in the dead of night. I would not have done so if it weren’t absolutely necessary.”

F: “Mother you are queen of the valkyrie, you need not apologize.”

S: “Be that as it may, these are important matters. As you know, the war party your sister led discovered that Voldrung had been greatly altered by the witches of the Black Briar Coven. Transformed from a frost giant into a hideous monstrosity.”

F: “They also learned that the witches had been breeding valkyrie to produce a small army of frost giants.” Freya’s fist clenched as she thought about what had happened. 

S: “Yes, that as well. But I’m afraid it gets worse. I have been in contact with an old acquaintance of mine, Elriac, the guild master of the Grand Cross Adventurer’s Guild. He recognized the new border around the symbol of the Black Briar Witch’s Coven. It belongs to Glasya, the daughter of Asmodeus and lord of the seventh lair of hell. The witches are clearly working for her, that is how they transformed Voldrung like that.” Freya took a few moments to think before responding.

F: “Why would Glasya be raising an army against Midgard? Is she doing this on her father’s orders or of her own volition?”

S: “We don’t know the answers to those questions, but we urgently need to find them.”

F: “So you’re commanding me to lead an expedition?”

S: “Yes. You will lead a host of valkyrie, along with members of the Grand Cross Adventurer’s Guild, and search for the witch’s stronghold. But this is no mere expedition, it is an assault. After you find the witches stronghold, destroy it.”

F: “Stronghold? Don’t witches usually live in a hut in the woods?”

S: “Yes. But these witches will have several dozen young frost giants with them and probably other defenses as well. I don’t know for certain that any infernal beings will be there, but they’re allied with Glasya so there is a good chance that minions of hell will be present as well. They aren’t fitting all that in a hut, they’ve got to have a base of operations somewhere. I’ve already sent word to Elriac, the guild is sending 4 groups to assist us, meaning 20 high level adventurers, an extremely generous offering. Additionally, you’ll be taking a war party of 48 valkyrie and 2 valkyrie commanders with you. This is not a scouting mission. You are to find the enemy and destroy them.” Freya knelt before her mother.

F: “I will not fail you.”

S: “Do not think of me. You are going to be queen someday, think of your future subjects and the kingdom of Midgard, much is at stake.

F: “I will not fail my people.”

S: “The adventurers from Astoria are already on their way, they’ll be here 5 days from now. I’ve done everything I can to assist you but this is your fight, I’m leaving all the preparations and planning up to you.”

F: “I will be victorious.”


	6. Chapter 6: Steep Cliffs and Deep Caves/Interlude pt 2

Edelweiss woke, turning over to look at Caroline as she slept.

E: “ _Can’t believe I’m in bed with an adult woman, this is so cool_.” He lay there for a few more minutes, staring up at the ceiling and listening to Caroline’s breathing. He eventually exited the bed, making his way downstairs.

Kiria and Priscilla were already at the kitchen table eating bread, eggs and some kind of stew that they were dipping the bread into.

K: “How’d you sleep Edelweiss?”

E: “Great. Helps to be exhausted.”

P: “I think that was the most I’ve ever walked in a two day span.” Caroline came downstairs and joined them for breakfast before the group made for the guild.

Abigail waved enthusiastically as the four members of Sacred Oath approached her.

A: “How’s it goin?”

P: “Pretty good, here for another quest.”

A: “Well there’s a whole bunch to choose from.” The group walked over to the rank 1 quest board, looking at what was available.

K: “Abigail what does it mean if a quest has a red wax seal on it?”

A: “Oh, that means the quest giver wants it done right away and has paid 50% extra to entice a group to do it. If you ever see a green wax seal that is an urgent quest with double reward, a blue wax seal means super urgent with a triple reward.”

E: “So this one pays 1 gold 50 copper despite being a rank 1 quest?”

A: “Yep. It’s that quest Frankfurt the alchemist posted right? He’s down on the first floor of the guild if you want to talk to him.”

K: “I have to collect purple cap mushrooms that only grow in certain caves. Those caves are filled with nasty, gross AWFUL spiders. Please protect me from those vile spiders while I collect my mushrooms. -Frankfurt the alchemist _.”_ K: “Yep, that’s the one. Is there anything we should know about these spiders?”

A: “Well I don’t know what kind of spiders they are, you’ll have to ask Frankfurt.”

K: “Got it.” Kiria took the posting off the board and handed it to Abigail. K: “What does Frankfurt look like?”

A: “Gnome alchemist. Real short, wears goggles for no particular reason, grey cloak, carries around a big purple book and a matching big purple sack. Despite his size, he’s actually pretty hard to miss.”

K: “Thanks for the help.” They made their way down to the first floor, looking around for the gnome that Abigail had described.

C: “There he is over there. Looks like he’s walking around the first floor trying to convince a group to do his quest.” Priscilla walked over to Frankfurt, reaching down to tap him on the shoulder.

P: “We saw your quest posting, we’re going to escort you through that cave.”

F: “Finally! That quest stayed up for days with no inquiries, some “adventurers” you people are. Even with the 50% reward bonus it still took me two days to find someone! And all because of a few spiders… pathetic.”

P: “Judging by the quest description, you’re pretty afraid of spiders yourself.”

F: “Yes. Because I’m smart, that’s why I’m an alchemist. These spiders are venomous. Adventurers are supposed to be all courage and no brains, can’t believe they’re all scared of a few spiders.”

P: “ _For a little gnome he sure has a big ego_ …” P: “Well you’re in luck, Sacred Oath is taking the job.” Priscilla led the gnome over to her companions. P: “This is Edelweiss, he’s a mage, this is Caroline the priestess and Kiria the monk. And I’m a knight.”

F: “Great, great. Do you have antidotes on you? Or some other way of removing poison?” He looked at Caroline. “You’re a priestess, can you remove poison?”

C: “No I’m afraid I don’t know that spell yet.”

E: “We don’t have any antidotes… is that a problem?”

F: “Only if you consider dying from spider venom to be a problem.” Frankfurt sighed. F: “I was hoping to avoid giving these away for free but I’ve got 3 antidote potions on me. I’m keeping one for myself but you can have the other two.” He handed two small vials to Priscilla, their contents a greenish-grey liquid.

K: “Well let’s get going. Lead the way Frankfurt.” The members of Sacred Oath followed Frankfurt out of the guild and onto the streets of Astoria, heading towards the southern exit. K: “So where exactly are we going?”

F: “Tabitha’s Ravine. A deep gouge carved out of the earth by the surging snowmelt runoff that comes down from the mountains every spring. The quest is urgent because its already mid-September, we’ve likely only got a few weeks until it snows. Once the first snow falls the ravine will become treacherous to traverse, eventually becoming impossible when the snow builds high enough.”

E: “So the mushrooms grow in this ravine and nowhere else?”

F: “Well not nowhere else, there are certainly other sources of them in the world, but these caves are the only place they grow near Astoria. These are some very fussy mushrooms. They need water… but only a little bit. They need nutrients… but only a little bit. Oxygen… but only a bit.”

They exited out the south gate, heading towards Tabitha’s Ravine.

E: “How long a walk is it?”

F: “Last time it took me 4 hours to get there, so we should be arriving around noon.” They walked mostly in silence, Edelweiss thinking about perfecting the mage armor spell while Priscilla focused on how much the arrogant little gnome annoyed her.

After walking all morning, they finally arrived at Tabitha’s Ravine.

C: “Those rock faces look pretty treacherous… how do we get down there?”

F: “See that landslide over there? We carefully descend down that, trying not to knock any big rocks loose.”

E: “I thought there was supposed to be a huge river running through the bottom? I only see a stream.”

F: “Come spring there will be a mighty torrent of snowmelt surging through this ravine, digging it a few inches deeper every year.” They walked over to the landslide, staring down the steep slope.

K: “Doesn’t look too bad.” Kiria descended in less than a minute, making it look easy.

P: “ _Damn monks…_ ” Frankfurt was quick as well, his low stature making it easy for him to keep his balance. Priscilla, Edelweiss and Caroline took a bit longer – making sure not to tumble down the rocky slope.

F: “Alright, now we walk through this ravine looking for caves. The purple cap mushrooms will be a ways into the caves where it is cooler with slightly lower oxygen levels.”

C: “What can you tell us about these spiders?”

P: “ _Please let them be small… I HATE spiders_.”

F: “The spiders that inhabit this ravine are grey-backed hunting spiders, or greybacks if you prefer. They sleep in the caves during the day, emerging to hunt at night. Goats that come down into the ravine to munch on the shrubs are their favorite prey.”

P: “ _HOLY SHIT THEY EAT GOATS!!!_ ” Priscilla’s face went pale.

E: “They eat goats… how big are these things?” There was a hint of concern in Edelweiss’s voice.

F: “They’re… well they’re not small! That’s why I’m paying you people to escort me. If I could just stomp on these buggers I would. I’d say the bigger ones are 2 feet tall and 4 wide. They’re more quick than fast, darting around rapidly but not the type of predator that could outrun something in open field. Their venom is pretty nasty though, so don’t let them sink their fangs into you.”

Edelweiss shuddered.

K: “I can move faster than everyone else so I’ll go searching ahead for caves.” Kiria ran ahead, searching for promising caves. She returned a few minutes later, jumping over a big rock just to show off.

K: “Found one a little ways up ahead and another not too far from there. Follow me.” They followed Kiria to the cave entrance, making sure to keep their footing and not fall down into the stream.

E: “ _Kiria makes this look so easy. Running and leaping from rock to rock without any hesitation. Guess this is the benefit of all the monk training she underwent_.” They regrouped as they arrived at the cave. Priscilla kept one of the antidotes tucked away beneath her armor, handing the other one to Caroline who slid it under her priest’s robes.

F: “Yep, this cave looks like it might contain purple caps. After you.” He gestured for the group to head in before him.

E: “How are we supposed to see anything?”

F: “Oh right, I forgot! We’ll need light. Fortunately, I have just the thing.” He reached into his big purple satchel, rooting around for something. 

C: “I can handle this myself.” Caroline placed a hand on her staff. C: “Illuminating light!” Caroline’s staff began to glow, a soft white light coming off of it, illuminating the area around it. C: “We should have a second light source, who else wants a piece of gear to be illuminated?”

F: “Great, saves me the hassle.”

P: “You can illuminate anything?”

C: “Illuminating light will light up an object or shine an intensely bright light in a cone to temporarily blind enemies.”

P: “Sounds useful. How about you light up my shield.”

C: “Will do.” Caroline muttered a quick prayer under her breath, placing her open hand on Priscilla’s shield, C: “Illuminating Light!” Priscilla’s shield began to glow, the smooth surface projecting out light.

F: “And now… we head inside.” The group passed through the wide mouth of the cave, the light fading except for what was cast by Caroline’s staff and Priscilla’s shield. Kiria and Priscilla were in front, ready to defend Edelweiss, Caroline and Frankfurt from any spiders that lunged at them.

P: “ _I hope the light doesn’t attract the spiders…_ ” The group was silent, keeping their eyes peeled for any eight legged creatures while Frankfurt scanned for the purple cap mushrooms.

F: “Stop.” Frankfurt’s whisper was just loud enough to hear but there was an urgency that brought the group to an immediate stop. The gnome pointed up to the ceiling. F: “Right up there, three greybacks in that crevice.” Kiria and Priscilla looked to Edelweiss.

E: “ _This’ll make a lot of noise, but if that causes spiders to come running at us instead of laying in wait, that might be an improvement_.” He began conjuring up a fireball, placing his hands on his new staff as the burning red orb grew before him. E: “ _This cherrywood staff channels mana more efficiently, I’m putting the same amount of mana into it but the fireball is growing faster_.” He cut off the flow of mana, not needing a huge fireball. He loosed the fireball up into the crevice, its explosion instantly killing all three spiders, their scorched corpses dropping harmlessly to the ground.

F: “Impressive…” The echo from the blast traveled down into the cave. F: “The rest know we’re here now.”

K: “Good job Edelweiss.” The group continued further into the cave, eventually coming to a mid-sized cavern.

K: “There are four of em on that far wall.”

P: “Two of them are pretty close together, wana blast em Edelweiss?”

E: “I can’t cast fireball over and over again, I’ll run out of mana.”

P: “Too bad we don’t have an archer, that would make this a lot easier.”

K: “Priscilla, we’ll attack the two that are close together then split off and kill the other ones separately. Sound good?” Priscilla nodded but her hands were shaking, betraying her fear.

P: “ _I hate spiders…_ ” Priscilla ran forward, leaping and slashing at the spider with her long sword. Her sword cut through the spider’s midsection but didn’t kill it, the creature dropping down to the ground, flailing about. Moments later there was a splat as Kiria smashed her foot through the head of the other spider. The monk gracefully dropped down to the ground before dashing at the other spider. The spider ran up the wall but Kiria pursued it, leaping high onto the wall and pushing off, shooting herself high into the air. She punched the fleeing spider, squashing its head.

E: “Showoff…” Kiria dropped to the ground, landing perfectly despite the height. Priscilla had managed to kill the wounded spider by stabbing at it wildly but the fourth was now running straight at her. Priscilla readied herself, legs shaking as she timed its charge so she could slash it.

P: “ _One more second… right… now_!” The greyback leapt into the air, jumping at Priscilla’s face.

P: “Eeeahhh!!!” Priscilla dove to her left. She rolled and got back to her feet, squaring off with the spider. The spider ran at her again, Priscilla’s legs shaking violently. Kiria sprinted over, punting the pursuing spider hard into the wall.

K: “For a knight you sure scare easily.” Priscilla glared at Kiria, the monk’s smug smile irritating her.

P: “I’m at my best against enemies with more height and fewer legs.”

F: “Ohhh… look at all those purple caps.” Frankfurt ran over to the mushrooms, beginning to carefully harvest them. As he pulled them up, he daintily dropped the mushrooms into his large purple sack. Edelweiss peered into Frankfurt’s sack but he was unable to see into it at all.

E: “Frankfurt what’s up with your bag? Those mushrooms are dropping in then disappearing into the blackness.”

F: “Oh this? It’s a bag of holding, can carry up to 200 pounds without gaining any weight.” He continued pulling up mushrooms. F: “And… I’m done. I have about a quarter of what I need. Let’s go explore more caves.”

E: “Hopefully we can find a huge clump of them and get out of here…”

They exited the cave, squinting in the sunlight.

K: “Caroline your illumination spell is a lifesaver.”

C: “There’s more to fighting than just attack spells and healing. Support spells like Illuminating Light can be really useful.”

K: “There is another cave a bit farther down. We should go there next.”

F: “Wonderful. At this rate I’ll have the mushrooms I need in no time.” The second cave didn’t take long to get to.

P: “Caroline how long does illumination last?”

C: “One hour. We’ll be good for this cave and then I’ll cast it again before we head into the third.” They entered the cave, proceeding with Kiria and Priscilla in front again. There was a lone spider near the entrance that Kiria smashed, Priscilla shielding her face so guts didn’t get on her. They ventured further inside, seeing a few eggs but no spiders.

P: “Should we destroy those?”

F: “No, we’re here to get the mushrooms and get out, nothing else.” As they pushed deeper the group came to a split in the path.

C: “I think it would be best if we all stayed together.”

P: “Agreed. Right or left?”

F: “Doesn’t matter, let’s go left for now.” They made their way down the narrow corridor, making sure to always have one set of eyes on the ceiling and another behind them.

K: “Another opening, we’ll have to drop down into this one. The drop looks like maybe 8 feet.” Kiria dropped down, Priscilla a second behind her.

C: “That’s a pretty big drop…”

E: “Even bigger for me…”

K: “Just go one at a time, I’ll catch you.” Edelweiss jumped, landing heavily in Kiria’s arms.

P: “There are 3 spiders in here, don’t make too much noise.” P: “ _I hate them so much_ …”

F: “There are four running towards us!”

P: “Shh! I said not to make noi” Priscilla cut herself off mid-sentence as Frankfurt leapt at Kiria who had only just set Edelweiss down. She caught him awkwardly, falling on her butt as she did.

C: “ _No time to wait_.” Caroline grasped her staff, sending mana into it. C: “Illuminating Light!” A blindingly bright beam shot out of her staff in a cone shape, momentarily disorienting the spiders. Caroline turned and hopped down, landing badly and toppling forward. She rose, grimacing as she put weight on her twisted ankle.

K: “Frankfurt stay between us; Priscilla protect my rear.” The three spiders in the cavern ran at the group, the noise and light having attracted them. As Kiria ran to meet them two of the spiders jumped at her. Kiria leapt at the left spider, smashing it with a flying knee. She felt its body crumple as she passed through it, the spider’s innards spraying out. Kiria spun around as she landed, seeing the other two coming for her. K: “Flurry of Blows!” One spider leapt while the other stayed on the ground. Her fists moved as blurs, pummeling the airborne spider then aiming down and punching the spider on the ground over a dozen times, its body turning to a bloody pulp. K: “Ouch!” She leapt backwards, gritting her teeth in pain. The leaping spider that she had punched several times had apparently survived, at least enough to move forward on its 5 non-smashed legs and bite her leg. K: “ _I was careless, my rapid punches hit its periphery but didn’t smash its core_.” She stomped on the offending spider, looking down at the bitemark before her eyes were drawn up by the sound of an explosion.

Three of the four spiders were destroyed by the fireball, the final one leaping off the ledge only to be speared by Priscilla’s longsword.

E: “Got em!”

P: “Kiria you okay over there?!”

K: “No I’m not. One of them bit me. I need the antidote.” Priscilla gasped, rushing over to Kiria. Kiria lifted her pant leg so Priscilla could see the wound.

P: “Yep. You got bit alright.” She handed Kiria the antidote. Kiria unscrewed the cap and looked at the greyish-green liquid inside.

K: “ _Can’t possibly taste as bad as it looks_.” She drained the vial in one swig, trying to swallow it without tasting. The antidote had a strong alcoholic taste with a lingering bitter aftertaste. K: “Yuck… but better than being poisoned.”

C: “Healing Light!” There was a blue-white glow from Caroline’s staff as she healed her twisted ankle. There was barely any damage so the healing was brief. Kiria gingerly walked over to her, Caroline cast again, healing the bitemark on Kiria’s leg.

F: “Don’t see any mushrooms in here, let’s go back to that split and check the other path. Those spiders came from that way so it should be clear.”

C: “How did they know to ambush us?”

F: “I don’t think they planned a pincer attack with the other group, spiders aren’t terribly smart. They likely heard us going down that corridor and waited to attack us from behind.”

Kiria scampered up the steep rock wall, reaching down to help the others. Priscilla picked up Edelweiss and handed him up to Kiria, doing the same for Frankfurt right after.

P: “Caroline I can’t lift you, but you’re tall enough that you can reach Kiria’s arm.”

Caroline leapt as high as she could, her upward momentum helping Kiria to hoist her up. Priscilla leapt and grabbed the edge of the rock wall, pulling herself up with her own strength.

The group made their way back to the split and ventured down the right path. They came to another cavern, this one much smaller than the other.

F: “Lord that is a lot of mushrooms!” Frankfurt ran over to a huge clump of purple cap mushrooms, beginning to harvest them.

C: “There’s a single spider over here. I’ll keep an eye on him but he isn’t moving.” They left when Frankfurt finished harvesting, sparing the spider.

E: “My eyes…”

C: “Sure is bright out here after adjusting to the dark cave. Illuminating light is wonderful but its nothing compared to the sun.

K: “Frankfurt how many more mushrooms do you need? That last clump was really big, do you have enough?”

F: “No not yet, but I’m close. One more clump and I’ll be good.”

P: “Well let’s hope the next cave has mushrooms in it.”

They continued through the ravine, not seeing any caves.

C: “Frankfurt have you been to Tabitha’s Ravine before, do you know where the caves are?”

F: “Yeah I’ve been here a few times. But I’ve mostly come in from the other side of the ravine, decided to try this side and see if I’d have better luck.” They kept going, eventually coming to another cave.

F: “Let’s hope this is the last one.”

P: “Agreed. I hate these spiders.”

C: “Illuminating Light!” Caroline cast the spell on her staff and Priscilla’s shield, brilliant light shining off of both of them.

E: “Caroline are those two spells the only ones you have?”

C: “No I have a third spell, turn undead.”

P: “Turn undead? What does that do?”

C: “It shines a holy light that undead cannot stand, forcing them to move away and damaging them if they do not. But unlike Illuminating Light, I have to keep channeling mana into Turn Undead to keep the spell up.”

P: “Sounds useful, but not against spiders.”

C: “Not unless they’re undead spiders.” Priscilla shivered.

E: “I’m already starting to feel pretty drained. I’ve got one more fireball left in me and then I’m gonna be out of mana.”

They entered the cave. Once again, Priscilla and Kiria led the way, the other three trailing behind them.

E: “ _So far so good_ …”

P: “ _Kiria is really showing me up this mission. But honestly… if she’s willing to kill the spiders, I’m fine with it_ ”

C: “ _Ankle is still a bit sore, can walk just fine but the muscle is a little strained, not gonna be 100% healed until I rest it when I sleep_.”

F: “ _We’ve gone pretty deep and there’s no sign of spiders yet, maybe we’ll be lucky and there won’t be any_.” Frankfurt looked down from the ceiling towards Kiria, staring as she bent over to look down a slope. F: “ _Heh… pretty good view from this angle. Absolutely incredible ass on that one, love the sheer size of it._ ”

K: “Long downward slope up ahead, watch your footing.” Kiria went first, making sure to look for spiders as she moved down the slope. K: “Priscilla keep your shield pointed ahead so I can see where I’m going.”

P: “Sorry, I’m trying not to slip.” Heads snapped towards Edelweiss as he fell on his butt, sending rocks bouncing down the slope.

E: “Lost my footing.” The young mage rubbed at his backside as he continued forward.

C: “ _Hope nothing heard that. Those rocks were pretty loud in this silent cave_.”

K: “I reached the bottom and its clear up ahead.” Kiria whispered but was still easily audible in the silence. She waited for the rest of the group to reach the bottom of the slope before continuing ahead.

F: “Stop a second. There are purple caps here.” Frankfurt ran over to a patch of mushrooms near the cave wall. F: “Priscilla shine your light over here so I can see.” Kiria kept watch, looking down the tunnel and occasionally up at the ceiling. A small rock tumbled down the slope.

P: “Edelweiss be still.”

E: “I’m not moving.”

C: “Guys…” Caroline squinted her eyes, looking up the slope for movement. C: “There’s something in here, I saw something up the hill.” The group turned around, looking up the slope as Frankfurt continued harvesting.

P: “I don’t see anything.”

C: “I saw a silhouette just a moment ago.” Caroline held her staff high in the air, shining light up the slope.

K: “Are you sure you saw something?”

C: “Yes, it was right up there.” Caroline pointed up the slope in direction she had seen something moving. C: “ _I swear I saw something. Was it just the shadows playing tricks on me?_ ”

F: “Alright, this does it folks. I have what I needed, lets head back to Astoria.”

They doubled back, heading up the slope using the same formation as earlier. Another rock tumbled down the slope.

K: “Edelweiss be careful.”

E: “It wasn’t me.” A shadow bounded over Kiria, crashing down onto Caroline. Caroline reacted at the last second, jamming her staff into the mouth of the huge mountain lion as it tried to bite her throat. She pushed her staff out away from her but the beast was far too strong, pinning her to the ground as it slashed at her with its claws. Priscilla ran down the slope raising her sword above her head to slash down at the creature. Priscilla toppled forward, dropping her sword as rocks slid out from under her feet. Kiria gracefully skipped down the slope, kicking hard at the side of the creature. The beast slashed at Kiria, catching her weight bearing leg, slashing four parallel gouges into her calf.

Edelweiss began charging frostbolt. E: “ _If I can just slow this thing down_.” Priscilla frantically looked for her sword, seeing the light shining off of it farther down the slope. The mountain lion knocked Caroline’s staff aside with a powerful swipe, biting down hard on her left shoulder. Caroline screamed as the beast dug its teeth into the meat of her shoulder, its bite crushing and tearing at the same time.

K: “Flurry of Blows!” Kiria’s fists pummeled the mountain lion’s flank, hurting it but not forcing the beast to release Caroline. K: “ _This thing is strong, my punches barely budged it. Doesn’t seem like a normal mountain lion_.”

K: “Whirlwind Kick!” Kiria spun three times, her momentum carrying her forward. On the third rotation she kicked in a wide arc, slamming her shin into the beast’s back hip. The whole back of its body lifted up off the ground, rotating the mountain lion. But its teeth were still buried in Caroline, instead of letting go the mountain lion bit down harder and twisted. There was a cracking sound as the beast’s jaws broke Caroline’s left clavicle. Caroline helplessly punched at the beast with her right arm, doing no damage. Tears streamed down Caroline’s face as the pain surged. Pinned on her back with the beast on top of her there was nothing Caroline could do. Priscilla picked up her sword and started sprinting up the slope towards Caroline.

E: “Frostbolt!” A blue triangle shot out of Edelweiss’s staff, hitting the mountain lion square on the side of its body, causing it to flinch but having no other effect. There was a sickening tear as a chunk of Caroline’s shoulder flesh broke free, blood pouring out. Kiria punched the beast hard in the head but wasn’t able to dislodge it from Caroline. Deciding that it had sufficiently wounded its prey, the mountain lion turned and prepared to leap up the slope, carrying Caroline with it.

There was a loud blast as something exploded right next to the mountain lion. The blast briefly knocked the beast off balance, preventing it from leaping away. Priscilla looked towards Frankfurt, her shield illuminating the gnomish alchemist. He was shaking a yellow potion in his hand, its contents turning frothy. He threw another one of the potions, this time scoring a direct hit on the mountain lion. The blast knocked it down, forcing it to drop Caroline. He pulled out a third yellow potion and began to shake it violently. Kiria interposed herself between the beast and Caroline, protecting her wounded teammate. The mountain lion slashed at Kiria, she leapt above the swipe, slamming her heel into the beast’s head as she descended.

E: “Frostbolt!” Another frostbolt hit the mountain lion, it grunted and turned, leaping diagonally down the slope as it began to retreat. Frankfurt threw his potion underhanded in the direction the beast had leapt in. The vial landed right before the mountain lion did, blasting it backwards and dazing it. Priscilla ran horizontally across the slope, bringing her blade down with a two-handed swing onto the neck of the mountain lion. She cut deep, mortally wounding it. The beast slashed at her, its claws sliding off of her scale mail. She yanked the blade out, raising it high then driving her blade down in a stabbing motion with all her weight behind it. The blade sank into the beast’s abdomen, pinning it down as Priscilla pushed her blade through the mountain lion into loose dirt. She pushed the blade back and forth vertically, the beast letting out a weak groan before dying. Frankfurt ran upslope as fast as his little legs would carry him.

F: “You got em!”

Caroline whimpered in pain, her shoulder bleeding profusely. She picked up her staff with her good arm, holding it with one hand.

C: “Lathandra please save me. Healing Light!” The blue-white light illuminated the ground around Caroline as the wound started to slowly close. Her wound was still pouring out blood, the healing not working fast enough. Kiria reached down, putting her hands on the wound to apply pressure, attempting to slow the bleeding. Priscilla reached Caroline, pulling something out of her pocket.

P: “I have a minor healing potion!” Caroline opened her mouth as she continued healing herself. Priscilla knelt down and carefully poured the red vial into Caroline’s open mouth. Caroline swallowed the liquid. Suddenly her shoulder wound partially closed, Kiria knelt down and slid the chunk of loose flesh back into the place. The flesh around it began to close as the potion and Caroline’s own healing worked together to close the wound. The healing slowed as the potion stopped having its effect. Caroline continued healing her shoulder, the blue-white light still shining.

Caroline’s head slumped down onto the rocky slope.

C: “I can’t heal anymore… I’m all tapped out.” Kiria ever so gently touched Caroline’s shoulder. C: “Urgghhh!!!”

K: “Sorry, sorry!” Kiria reached down, taking Caroline’s hand as she helped the priestess to her feet. Frankfurt finally reached them.

F: “Have you given her a healing potion yet!”

P: “Yes, just gave her one.”

F: “Alright. I have more but we can’t give her another so soon, she won’t be able to metabolize it.” Priscilla picked up Caroline’s staff as Kiria knelt down, allowing Caroline to piggyback on her back.

K: “Hold tight with your good arm, I’ll lean forward and keep hold of your legs so you won’t fall.” Caroline weakly nodded as Kiria started up the slope. The journey out of the cave took twice as long as the way in, but they did eventually reach the surface. Priscilla squinted as she stepped out into the light, looking at Caroline’s still bleeding shoulder.

P: “We need to bandage her, we can’t carry her five hours back to Astoria with her bleeding like that. Does anyone have bandages? Frankfurt, do you have any bandages or medical supplies in that big purple sack of yours?”

F: “Only alchemical ingredients and potions in here. We’ll have to tear someone’s cloak.” Without being asked, Edelweiss tore a few strips off the bottom of his wizard’s cloak, handing them to Priscilla who wrapped Caroline’s shoulder as best she could, slowing the bleeding to a weak trickle.

C: “Thank you…” Caroline’s voice was weak.

P: “Don’t talk Caroline. We’re gonna get you home.” They made for Astoria. Kiria carefully made her way up the landslide, straightening out a bit as she reached the top, exiting Tabitha’s Ravine. The others were right behind her.

K: “Frankfurt, how long until Caroline can have another potion?”

F: “Well what did you give her?”

P: “A minor healing potion.”

F: “Those metabolize pretty fast, she can have another.” Frankfurt reached into his bag, pulling out a greenish-brown potion.

E: “Is that a healing potion? I thought they were red.”

F: “They are. This is a lesser regeneration potion. Heals much slower than a healing potion but it will do far more total healing. A healing potion does all its healing in about 15 seconds. This will slowly act over the next 30 minutes.” He handed the lesser regeneration potion to Caroline who took it with her right hand, turning her head up as she drank the potion.

C: “You’re a lifesaver…”

F: ‘Oh… it’s no problem. You helped me collect the purple caps I need, I’d feel terrible if you died as a result of helping me. Besides, that crag lion would’ve eaten me for lunch if I had been alone.”

E: “Crag lion?”

F: “Related to mountain lions but bigger and stronger with a darker brown coat to blend in with the rocks. Probably came down into the ravine to hunt goats and saw us enter the cave.”

The group made their way across the wide open terrain back towards Astoria.

C: “My shoulder is hurting a lot less and I think the bleeding has stopped. Though I still feel really weak.”

P: “Your robes are soaked with blood, it’s not surprising you feel weak given how much blood you lost. Frankfurt, do healing potions restore lost blood?”

F: “Well… that’s a complicated question. There are entire books written on potion theory and the alchemical community isn’t in agreement on how all the potion types work. Healing potions slow bleeding by healing you, but I don’t think they restore lost blood… although some alchemists think they do.”

E: “I know I can’t chug a whole bunch of mana potions because I won’t be able to metabolize them. Even after the potion has had its effect the reagents are still around in your system and you can’t absorb another potion until after you’ve processed the reagents of the first one. What determines how fast a person processes the reagents and can have another potion?”

F: “As you get stronger, you’ll have more constitution, constitution builds over time from adventuring, exploring and fighting. As your constitution increases, you’ll be able to process potions faster. Now, some people and races naturally have more constitution than others. For example, dwarves and orcs have high natural constitution and will therefore process a potion faster.”

E: “Do gnomes have less constitution?”

F: “Nope. Just because we’re small doesn’t mean we have any less constitution. We lack in the strength category, but we’re fine for constitution. Fairies and elves have reduced constitution, their lithe figures are good for fast nimble movement but not as good for processing a potion or fighting off poison.”

E: “And stronger potions have stronger reagents that are harder to process. If I drank a major regeneration potion, I wouldn’t be able to process the reagents and would faint. I have to get stronger before I can drink a potion like that.”

F: “Yep. But your bigger problem would be pissing off whoever you stole the major potion from, no way a rank 1 adventurer like you could ever afford one.” Edelweiss laughed.

E: “I’m pretty good at running away.”

P: “Speaking of potions, what are you using those purple cap mushrooms for?”

F: “Lesser lightning resistance potions. Got enough mushrooms to brew about 15 of em. I’ll sell 10 to the guild at wholesale price and try to sell the others individually at higher price.”

P: “Any chance you could give us a discount?”

F: “Whoa, whoa, whoa. I’m already paying you 50% extra for this quest. But… I do like you people, so if you ever need anything come to my shop and I’ll see what I can do for you.”

They reached the guild well after the sun had set. Caroline stepped down off of Kiria’s back, standing on her own. Kiria rubbed at her back, sore from carrying Caroline all the way back to Astoria. As they entered through the main doors an aasimar paladin saw Caroline and immediately ran over. Due to his partially angelic heritage, the aasimar’s skin and eyes seemed to faintly glow in the dim light of the guild’s first floor.

“Eldrath, hear my plea and heal this wounded soul. Healing Light!” His hands glowed blue-white just like Caroline’s, but the glow was MUCH brighter. Caroline grimaced as her shoulder rapidly healed.

C: “Thank you sooo much. What is your name kind sir?”

“I am Vyrant, paladin of Eldrath – the god of peace, pacifism and protecting the weak.”

P: “ _That shield and mace on his back look like they’re for fighting not pacifism. Although he did say protecting the weak, so I guess it’s okay for him to fight if the cause is just_.”

C: “Well Vyrant, this humble priestess of Lathandra thanks you from the bottom of her heart.” Caroline touched her wounded shoulder, winching as she did. C: “It’s all healed, but full recovery will require a few days of rest.”

The group made their way to the second floor. Abigail was long gone, an elderly human woman handed them their reward instead of the usual cheery receptionist.

K: “1 gold and 50 copper. A lot we can buy with this, though I think we should rest for a few days before anymore adventuring. I’m beat and Caroline’s shoulder needs to heal.”

C: “Yes… my shoulder will require a few days to fully heal.”

E: “I wouldn’t mind a few days off. Practice my spells and rest up.”

P: “Fine with me.” They made for Priscilla’s house, sleep finding them quickly.

**Interlude Part 2:**

5 days later.

Freya laid her suit of armor on her bed. The mithril armor was chain-mail with plate-mail components for the sabatons, gauntlets, bracers, helmet, pauldrons and parts of the chest, back and hips. The armor gave her good flexibility while offering solid protection. The entire suit of armor was solid mithril, so even the chain-mail portions would be highly protective.

Freya removed a pair of bra and panties from her dresser, along with high socks and padded gloves. She slid her silver panties up her long legs and over her wide hips, a thick mound of blonde pubic hair disappearing as she did. Like all valkyries, Freya was tall. The average valkyrie stood 6’2 to 6’5 and Sigrún’s eldest daughter was even taller than that, standing a full 6’7, just one inch shorter than her 6’8 mother. Freya reached behind her, putting on her bra as she looked in the mirror. Valkyrie were renowned for their strength, stamina and combat prowess. But they were equally famous for their beauty and feminine bodies. Freya’s 40H breasts would have looked absurd on a human woman, but on her 6’7 frame they looked very large but not hugely out of proportion to the rest of her body. 

She put on her high socks and padded gloves, bending over to pick up her armor. She donned all of her armor except for her helmet, putting her spear and shield over her back and carrying her helmet as she left her room and made for the great hall. Valkyrie knelt before Freya as she passed, bowing their heads down in respect as Sigrún’s eldest daughter passed them.

F: “Rise my sisters, you need not bow to me when I pass. My mother never required such treatment and I don’t either.”

“May Sköld give you strength Lady Freya.”

Freya entered the great hall, nodding to her mother as she strode towards Sigrún’s throne. The 50 valkyrie she was bringing with her and the 20 adventurers sent by the guild were already in the throne room waiting. Freya stood by her mother’s side. Sigrún gestured for Freya to step forward and address the assembled crowd.

S: “You are leading them not me.” The whisper was low enough that only Freya could hear it. 

F: “Honored sisters, noble adventurers, today we have gathered not for mirth but for war. The frost giant warlord Voldrung has been slain. But in the course of defeating him we discovered a more sinister evil. The Black Briar Coven has allied itself with Glasya, the daughter of Asmodeus and lord of the seventh level of hell. Glasya’s infernal magic twisted Voldrung into something awful, turned a once brutish but cunning and somewhat honorable frost giant into a monster. The witches are raising an army of frost giants and likely have servants of hell with them. We must strike now, before the frost giants are full grown, before the witches hatch more foul schemes to attack our people.

My valkyrie sisters, this is our fight, we fight to defend our homeland, we fight to defend future generations. Adventurers from the guild, this is not your war. I thank you from the depths of my heart for risking life and limb to venture north and fight by our side. Adventurers, if you don’t mind, I would know your names and the names of your teams.”

A dwarf in plate mail with a battle hammer slung over his shoulder stepped forward.

A: “I am Aerik, paladin of Torm.” A man with pale skin and long black hair stepped forward beside Aerik.

“I am Safi, sorcerer and teammate of Aerik. We are members of Angel’s Fury, one of the teams that ventured to Voldrung’s lair with your sister.”

F: “From what I hear you two were critical in defeating Voldrung. Without you two my little sister Kára might have been slain.”

A: “Garrius saved your sister, but yes, we did help slay that foul beast. Though I regret that we lost so many lives in the process.”

F: “Without you, there would have been more casualties. And for all the loss, something beautiful came of it. A few weeks from now the wizard Garrius is set to marry Kára, a joyous event that will bring the valkyrie closer to your guild.”

A: “Aye, a joyous occasion indeed.” He said joyous but Aerik’s face was stern and hard. A woman with orange hair stepped forward.

“I am Safi, cleric of Ilmatar and teammate of Aerik and Safi.” A male tiefling stepped forward, his leather armor and long knives identified him as a rogue.

“I am Kairon, a new member of Angel’s Fury.” A male wood elf stepped forward.

“I am Rhea, a ranger from Asolia Forest. You have my bow.” 

F: “Angel’s Fury has now aided my people twice. When we return to Midgard victorious, you will be our honored guests. Freya turned to the other adventurers, organized in three more groups of five.” The other fifteen adventurers introduced themselves. Tiamat’s breath, Strider and Gallant were their team names. Their members spanned many different races and classes, far more variety than the valkyrie were accustomed to.

F: “We leave today. The Black Briar Coven operates out of Myrrwood Forest, a vast ocean of trees to the northeast of Midgard. The location of the coven shifts overtime, but today we aren’t looking for a witch’s hut, we’re looking for a fortress. We have many skilled trackers with us and enough supplies to last us five weeks. I’m certain that we will be able to find and destroy our enemy.” Freya lifted her spear high into the air, slamming the butt of it hard onto the ground. F: “Move out!”

The 50 valkyrie were broken into two squads of 24, each being led by a valkyrie commander. The 50 valkyrie turned around marched out of the great hall, heading towards the Midgard gate. Unlike most cities, Midgard only had a single massive gate. It made exiting the city a pain if you were far from the gate, but it also meant there was only one gate to defend if there was a siege. The 20 guild adventurers followed behind the valkyrie, keeping in their own tight formations. As they exited the city and turned northward the formations broke down, the 71 warriors moving in a loose disorganized clump. They traveled northwards most of the day, reaching the shore of a vast lake when the setting sun neared the horizon.

Freya looked out across Lake Hjälmarn. Despite being a lake, Hjälmarn was large enough that when there was strong wind, the waves looked like mighty ocean waves crashing upon the shore. F: “ _And by November or early December Hjälmarn will freeze over and remain frozen until April_.” The war party continued east across the lake, stopping for the day as the sun dipped below the horizon.

The group’s supplies were carried by sköldpaddas, giant white tortoises that lived in the frozen lands around Midgard. The mighty sköldpadda were 8 feet high belly to shell crest and 20 feet long nose to the tip of their tail. Though if they retracted their head, limbs and tail into the shell, the sköldpadda were only 14 feet long. Like the valkyrie, the sköldpadda were completely unbothered by the cold, the huge tortoises capable of trudging through snow piled higher than their shell in the dead of winter. The valkyrie had burdened the eight sköldpadda with five weeks’ worth of supplies. While the weight would have crushed a horse, the mighty sköldpadda carried it without much fuss.

Freya address the party. F: “We’ll stop and camp here for the night, we should be able to reach Myrrwood forest by tomorrow evening.”

They removed the supplies from the sköldpaddas and let them graze. While horses would have taken to the thin chilled grass, the sköldpadda were only interested in trees. Their huge jaws would open as their heads tilted, allowing them to take huge chunks out of the woody trees. Freya sat in front of a fire with three other valkyrie and two adventurers, a male gnome warlock named Suri and a female human monk named Ami. Freya removed her gloves, warming her hands in front of the fire. Ami spoke to her.

“Lady Freya, I’ve heard that your people never get cold, is that true?”

F: “Almost. No natural chill will ever be enough to freeze the daughters of Sköld, but a white dragon’s breath or an ice spell could still hurt us, though far less than it would hurt a less resistant person.” Freya turned to one of the three valkyrie that sat in front of the fire. F: “I do not recognize you, what is your name? And please, don’t bow or formally introduce yourself, we are out in the wilderness not at some fancy ball.” The valkyrie smiled shyly.

“I am Hilda.” She reached back and touched her great bow, H: “A ranger sent to track our enemies.”

F: “I’m sure your skills will come in handy. You look young, tell me Hilda, how old are you?”

H: “I only recently turned 20, I have been on many hunts but this is my first expedition into enemy territory.” She paused for a moment, looking directly at Freya. H: “I am… well I am frightened. Thinking about what the witches did to those captured valkyrie, it angers but also scares me, that could have been me down in that lightless basement. But your presence does put me at ease.”

Suri spoke. 

“Well I’m a rank 7 adventurer and I’m also fearful. I’ve fought horrible creatures in the underdark and I once briefly journeyed to the first level of hell. I have a bad feeling about these woods. But I am facing my enemy with my head held high, fear doesn’t make you a coward. In fact, being afraid and persevering is what makes you courageous.” Hilda nodded.

H: “I only hope that when the moment comes my aim is true and my courage doesn’t falter.” There was a powerful gust of wind. The flames tilted and briefly diminished. Suri looked at Hilda, her long blonde hair blowing horizontally in the wind, firelight reflecting off of her green eyes.

“ _God… these valkyrie are beautiful_ …” Hilda was nearly as tall as Freya, standing 6’5 with the same voluptuous build as the valkyrie princess. 

After dinner the expedition went to bed, a few members keeping watch in rotating shifts.

As the sun rose the next morning the group packed up camp, loading up the sköldpaddas with supplies and making for Myrrwood forest. They journeyed along the shore of the lake for most of the day, finally passing it and turning north towards the forest. It had recently snowed, and in the chilly mid-September air barely any of it had melted. The war party continued north across the barren snowy field, trying hard to keep track of where they were going in the endless white field.

As the sun began to set, the group finally caught sight of Myrrwood forest, its dark trees barely visible on the horizon. They trudged forward, reaching the edge of the forest and heading a bit inside to protect them from the worst of the wind. They setup camp again, taking watch in shifts while the rest of the party slept.

The war party rose early the next morning and set out into the forest.

Hilda stayed 500 feet in front of the main formation, relying on her tracking skills to look for signs of giants, supply carts or anything else that could lead them to the fortress.

H: “ _There are tracks everywhere. Wolves, rabbits, foxes, lynx, deer, elk and the occasional snow bear. But no frost giants… normally that would be a good thing but this is the one time I actually want to see frost giant tracks_.”

Hilda froze, pointing her great bow high into the air as something screeched in the distance. H: “ _Is that a royal griffin? I’ve never seen one before_.” The flying beast cried out again, Hilda’s eyes fixing on it. H: “ _White feathers, hindquarters of a lion, head wings and talons of an eagle. That’s a royal griffin alright_.” She watched as it flew perpendicular to the expedition’s path. H: “ _Wingspan is at least 25 if not 30 feet. Wouldn’t want it hunting me_.”

Hilda continued, keeping ahead of the group behind her. Of the 50 valkyrie who had come on the expedition, 5 of them were rangers. The guild had sent another 3 rangers and 1 druid. They had 9 trackers all together. They were fanned out with 5 of them ahead of the main group in a “V” shape with two more on each side projecting out farther. As they passed through the Myrrwood the 9 trackers were covering a cross section of around 1,000 feet.

H: “ _Hopefully we find tracks in the next few days, I would prefer not to be out here for the entire five weeks that our food supplies will allow_.” They tracked all day, covering 20 miles, heading deeper into the forest but not finding any tracks or clues that would lead them to the witch’s lair. H: “ _Well today wasn’t very productive_.” 

The group made camp again, setting up fires to cook meat and keep the adventurers warm. In addition to the stores they had with them, the valkyrie had caught several deer, skinning them and adding their meat to the food supplies. Sleep came quickly for Hilda, the valkyrie ranger tired from a day of unsuccessful tracking.

Freya stayed awake later into the night.

F: “ _Where are they hiding? We need to move intelligently, not spend days wandering around the Myrrwood. They have several dozen rapidly growing frost giants with them, along with Sköld only knows what else. That means they need food. A lot of food. Far more than the witches could obtain by setting traps and gathering edible plants from the woods. So where would they be… where could they find enough food?_ ” Freya thought about but could not think of a convincing answer.

The next day was more of the same. They covered a huge amount of ground, nearly 25 miles. But there was nothing to show for it. That night, Freya consulted the druid that had come with the adventurer’s an elven man with dark green hair and vibrant green eyes.

F: “These woods must be far colder than what you are used to in the Asolia forest.”

“They are indeed. But if the northern woods were enough to deter me from an important cause then I wouldn’t be much of a druid.”

F: “I guess not. Tell me, have you seen any tracks or signs of the witch’s lair?”

“I have not. But that is not surprising, as we are randomly traversing through a massive forest. These woods span hundreds of miles in every direction, the chances of us finding the witch’s lair like this are very low.”

F: “To feed all those growing giants and whatever else they have with them, the witches must be somewhere where they have access to abundant food. But I can’t think of where that might be.”

“Well… if they are tracking the caribou herds that would give them a good source of food, but that would be difficult if they have a stationary lair. It’s possible that they are mostly subsisting on plant matter.”

F: “Giants have a diet similar to humans or valkyrie. They can eat fruits and vegetables but grass, bark and wood aren’t edible for them. They have to be eating meat.”

“Meat… or mushrooms. Certain types of fungus contain the same sustenance as meat, if you have enough of them, you can go without meat.”

F: “But they could never harvest that many mushrooms.”

“No, they could not. But in the underdark there are civilizations that cultivate vast underground fields of giant mushrooms. I’ve never seen them myself but I hear they can grow 30, 40 feet tall. If the witches are growing mushrooms in a similar manner, that could give them enough food.”

F: “And they could probably use their witch’s magic to speed up the growth.” F: “ _He might be onto something_.”

“Do you know of any large caves systems in these woods?”

F: “No… but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any. I’ll be back in one second with a map.” Freya ran over to her supplies, pulling out a highly detailed map of the Myrrwood. F: “Looks like there are a few caves near us… but none of them seem big enough. This one though…” Freya stared intently at the map. “About 30 miles south of here, it looks like ancient lava flows carved out a big cave system long ago. This cave system looks to be hundreds of square miles.”

“We aren’t guaranteed to find the witch’s lair in those caves, but I think it’s a good bet.”

F: “As do I. I’ll tell everyone the change of plans in the morning. We are abandoning tracking and going full speed ahead towards the nearest entrance to this cave system, we should be able to get there in a day.”

Hilda spent the next day not tracking, but instead looking for the clearest path and helping to lead the caravan through the woods. They traveled the entire 30 miles in a single day, stopping just shy of where the cave entrance was supposed to be. Hilda and the other rangers were dispatched to find the cave entrance and report back.

Hilda made for the spot where the cave entrance was supposed to be. She reached a large cliffside, scanning along it, she didn’t see anything.

H: “ _Well maps like that aren’t going to be accurate to the exact location, should be around here somewhere_.” The scouts spent the next hour scouring the surrounding area for the cave entrance. Hilda passed by another valkyrie ranger.

H: “Have you seen anything? We looked all along the base of this cliff face and found nothing. We’ve looked in the surrounding woods and the druid even sent his owl up to along the top of the cliff. Nothing.” The ranger shook her head.

“The map may be wrong. Or the cave entrance is obscured by a rockslide.”

H: “Haven’t seen any rockslides…” Hilda turned her head as she heard shouting a few hundred feet away. She sprinted over to the spot, seeing a valkyrie ranger holding a dead raven.

“This bird just flew right out of the cliffside! I killed it with my bow, as I believe it serves the witches.”

H: “That’s impossible, how could it have flown out of a rockface. Unless… there’s an illusion?” The ranger poked at the cliffside with her spear near the area where she had seen the raven fly out. Her spear sank through, disappearing into the cliffside as if it were water. H: “ _A cave entrance obscured by an illusion… we found the witches_.” Hilda walked over to the illusionary rockface, putting her hand right through it. She stepped through the illusion, looking down into a massive unlit tunnel. H: “ _This is definitely their lair_.” A chill wind blew out from the depths of the cavern. “ _I have a very bad feeling about this cave_.” They marked the location of the concealed cave entrance and returned to Freya, telling her what they found.


End file.
